ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN GILBERT

Shakespeare, William (1564–1616)

Shakespeare's Sämmtliche Werke [Complete Works in German — Four Volumes]

Stuttgart: Druck und Verlag von Eduard Hallberger, Undated [nineteenth century]. SHAKESPEARE IN GERMAN — AN ILLUSTRATED FOUR-VOLUME SET IN DECORATIVE HALF LEATHER.
A complete four-volume German-language edition of Shakespeare's works, bringing together translations by several prominent nineteenth-century German literary figures, including August Wilhelm Schlegel, Paul Heyse, and Ferdinand Freiligrath's contemporaries.

Illustrated by the English artist John Gilbert, the edition combines Shakespeare's plays and poetry with detailed narrative illustrations, ornamental title designs, and a substantial Victorian visual interpretation of the dramatist's work.

The matching bindings, with gilt-decorated leather spines and marbled boards, give the set particular appeal as an example of nineteenth-century European literary publishing and decorative bookbinding.

PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS: Contemporary-style half brown leather over marbled paper-covered boards, with matching marbled text-block edges. Spines with five raised bands, gilt-lettered titles and volume numbers, decorative gilt ornaments, and gilt rules. Four volumes, complete. Approximately 10 inches tall. Pagination: 506; 531; 495; 479 pages, respectively.

German text in Fraktur type, arranged in double columns. Illustrated throughout with black-and-white engravings after John Gilbert, including a portrait of Shakespeare, full-page illustrations, and illustrations incorporated into the text.

CONDITION: GOOD-Plus. Bindings tight and square. Text clean, with age-toning more pronounced toward the margins. Moderate shelf handling wear, including rubbing along the lower board edges from shelf movement. Leather and board extremities show additional rubbing and small areas of surface wear. Gilt spine lettering and decorations remain legible and attractive.

HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE / SUBJECT SIGNIFICANCE
SHAKESPEARE AND THE GERMAN LITERARY TRADITION
Shakespeare occupied an important position in nineteenth-century German literary culture. The translations associated with August Wilhelm Schlegel helped establish his plays as enduring works of German-language literature, while subsequent translators and editors expanded their accessibility.

This edition reflects that tradition through its collective translation credits and the illustrations of John Gilbert, whose interpretations of Shakespeare's characters and dramatic scenes were widely reproduced during the Victorian period.

GENRES: Literature, Drama, Poetry, Shakespeare Studies, German Translations, Illustrated Books, Antiquarian Books, Decorative Bindings.

SUBJECTS: William Shakespeare, German Literature, English Drama, Shakespeare in Translation, Nineteenth-Century Literature, John Gilbert, Victorian Book Illustration, German Book Publishing.

Item #22635

Price: $125.00