Clarke, Mary Cowden
Clarke, Mary Cowden
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1977. Hardcover. Reprint of the New and Revised Edition. Large octavo. 860pp. Top gilt. Tipped onto the front flyleaf is a signed 1881 note from Clarke's Villa Novello estate in Genoa, Italy, in which she expresses her "kind greetings and good wishes, as well a torn portion of the note's original envelope.
Rebound in full leather by Stikeman & Co. (stamp at top corner of front endpaper), with five raised bands, gilt spine titles, and marbled endpapers; the original board cloth has been tipped onto flyleaves at rear. Additionally, tipped in between the title and dedication pages are three printed sheets, the first two containing an explanation of Clarke's spelling of "Shakespere" and a list of her other published works, the third a "Preface to New and Revised Edition." Both of these addendums bear 1881 dates, and were presumably sent to the original owner along with the note from Clarke.
Moderate rubbing and wear to the board corners, bands, and hinges, with some small tears and loss at crown of spine. Binding sound. A major work by one of Victorian England's most pre-eminent Shakespearean scholars.