SHAKESPEARE, William, Works. Volume the fifth. Jacob Tonson, 1709

SHAKESPEARE, William, Works. Volume the fifth. Jacob Tonson, 1709. Containing Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, Julius Caesar, Macbeth, Hamlet Prince of Denmark, King Lear and Othello. Very early binding of quarter cloth over marbled boards. This is the first 8vo edition after the four great folios of the 17th century, and the first illustrated edition of Shakespeare, with a plate before each play. An early owner has made several dozen neat corrections to the text, eg in Julius Caesar 'Is not tomorrow boy the first of March?' has been corrected to 'Ides', and a few lines further on 'Sir, March is wasted fifteen days' has been corrected to 'fourteen'. Rubbing to marbled boards. Lower board holding by the cords but a tight, clean and very attractive copy.