Temple Shakespeare. The Comedy of Errors. Issued by J. M. Dent in 1902, Edited & with a Preface, Glossary, etc by Israel Gollancz. This Edition OP

This is the Temple Edition of William Shakespeare’s play, “The Comedy of Errors”. The book was edited, with a Preface, Glossary and Notes by Israel Gollancz, and published by J. M. Dent in London . This is the 7th Temple Edition, issued in August 1902. It is the shortest of Shakespeare’s plays; according to “The Oxford Companion to English Literature”, |> This is one of the earliest and crudest of his plays, and, in the main, is an adaptation of the ‘Menaechmi’ of Plautus.<| Nonetheless it is a rather madcap comedy of mistaken identities, and despite the overhanging threat of execution that hangs over one of the characters, playgoers found themselves chuckling at the staged absurdities. Audiences still find the story a comic farce, well worth the watching. It's a lovely, petite book, measuring approximately 4" x 5 3/8", bound in dark burgundy cloth with top edge gilt. The front cover has Shakespeare's family heraldic crest stamped in blind; the spine has the title in gilt. The fore- and bottom text-block edges are rough trimmed. Inside, the end-papers, front and back, have Shakespeare's heraldic crest printed in black and yellow. The half-title announces the series ("The Temple Shakespeare"). The frontispiece is a gravure reproduction in miniature of an old etching of the Grammar School at Stratford Upon Avon. This frontispiece is accompanied by a guard tissue, which has printed on it an elegy for the great Bard by Ben Johnson (“And though thou hadst small Latin and less Greek …”). The decorated title page, which is rubricated (printed in red and black), features a central vignette of two smiling head, pointing each to the other. On the verso of the title page is Samuel Coleridge’s appreciative assessment of Shakespeare’s wit, which starts : “The myriad-minded man, our, and all men’s, Shakspeare, has in this piece presented us with a legitimate farce in exactest consonance with the philosophical principles and character of farce as distinguished from comedy and from entertainments …”. The rest of the book is lightly rubricated throughout with the act and scene numbers rendered in red. The book is bound with a silk place-marker. SERIES : Temple Shakespeare TITLE : Shakespeare’s Comedy of Errors AUTHOR : William Shakespeare (1564 - 1616) EDITOR, PREFACE, GLOSSARY, NOTES : Israel Gollancz (1864 - 1930) TEXTUAL QUOTES : Ben Johnson & Samuel Coleridge IMPRINT : J. M. Dent PLACE : London (Aldine House W.C.) DATE : August 1902 PRINTER : Ballantyne, Hanson & Co. EDITION : Reprint, 7th Temple Edition (So stated - one may presume these to be printings) STATUS : This edition OP DETAILS : Petite semi-flexible hardcover; has decorated end-papers, sepia gravure frontispiece with printed tissue guard; decorated title page, rubricated, as are the act and scene designations through the text; has a Preface, a Glossary, and Notes. [xii] + [147] pages; 4" x 5 1/4"; dark burgundy (or maroon) cloth binding with gilt lettering on spine and heraldic emblem blind-stamped on front cover. Top edge gilt, fore-and bottom edges rough-trimmed. Bound with silk place-marker. CONDITION — VERY GOOD — This is a previously owned book that remains clean and attractive, with the following particulars noted : EXTERIOR -- Gilt lettering on spine is bright; top edge gilt is slightly rubbed but basically fairly bright; the cover has some transparent water staining (of no great effect); else the cover has strong color and only softly bumped corner tips. BINDING -- The leaves have been separated, sometimes with a bit of less care; the whole is pretty solid with no detached or loose leaves. INTERIOR -- There are a few small ‘tea’ stains , and some of the leaves are toned; frontispiece and guard tissue are toned - else clean and presentable with no marking, no writing and no signatures. …