JENS BAGGESEN'S COPY

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM.

Cymbeline. A Tragedy + Romeo and Juliet + Hamlet, Prince of Denmark + Othello, the Moor of Venice. [i.e. vol. 7 (of 8) of The works of Shakespear].

[Dublin, Printed by and for Geo. Grierson, in Essex-Street, and for George Ewing, in Dames-Street, 1 8vo. Nice 19th century half calf with richly gilt spine. A bit of occasional brownspotting, but overall very nice. Half-title with three old owner's entries - that of Jens Baggesen (1802), another one dated 1860, and finally that of esteemed book collector Paul V. Rubow, statitng that this is Pope's edition. Another old owner's signature (Brammer) to title-page. 424, (48 - Index), (6 - table of editions of Shakespeare's Plays), (2 - advertisements) pp. - lacking the title-page for the volume, but with all half-titles for the separate plays present. Six large allegorical woodcut head-pieces, woodcut initials, and woodcut ornamentations.

Volume 7 - containing Cymbeline, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, and Othello - of the extremely rare first Irish edition of Shakespeare's works, which appeared in 8 volumes in all, the 8th being a supplementary volume by Dr. Sewell.

This 7th volume is arguably the most sought-after of the volumes, as it includes not only Hamlet, but also Romeo and Juliet as well as Othello and will thus also have been saleable and collectable on its own. This copy of vol. 7 was bought by the great Danish Golden Age author Jens Baggesen (1764-1626) on his travel to London in 1802 and bears his inscription "London, April 13th" and signature to the front free end-paper.

"Jens Baggesen, in full Jens Immanuel Baggesen, leading Danish literary figure in the transitional period between Neoclassicism and Romanticism.
In 1782 Baggesen went to Copenhagen to study theology. Three years later, at age 21, he had an unprecedented success in Denmark with his first collection of poems, Comiske fortællinger (1785; "Comical Tales"). Later, after his libretto to the first major Danish opera, Holger Danske (1789; "Ogier the Dane," music by Friedrich Kunzen), received adverse criticism (mainly because of its supposed lack of nationalism), Baggesen traveled through Germany, Switzerland, and France. The journey became the basis of his most important book, the imaginative prose work Labyrinten (1792-93; "The Labyrinth"), a "sentimental journey" reminiscent of the work of the 18th-century English novelist Laurence Sterne. Baggesen was variously a Germanophile, a great admirer of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, an ardent supporter of the French Revolution, a disciple of Immanuel Kant, and a Romanticist and early admirer of Denmark's foremost Romantic poet, Adam Oehlenschläger. Later in life he vigorously opposed Romanticism, carrying on a seven-year feud with Oehlenschläger.
A perennial traveler, attracted to existential harmony but always torn between material and spiritual values, Baggesen found himself at home everywhere and nowhere. His restless existence was tempered only by his sense of humour and absurdity. He has been called a European spirit who "held a passport to the whole world except his own heart"." (Encycl. Britt.).

It was in December 1800 that Baggesen moved from Denmark and settled down in Paris. He was not happy and he was not healthy. In late March 1802, he went to London, where he wrote the famous line ""Dover! Shakespear! Oh Ocean! Oh Mountains! I am thrilled!" ("Dover! Shakespear! O Hav! O Bjerge! Jeg er henrykt!")- and it was here, on April 13th, that he acquired the present volume of Shakespeare's works, containing the greatest of the author's plays.

The eight volumes of this first Irish edition of Shakespeare's works was published by George Grierson and George Ewing and constitutes a piracy reprint of Pope's 6-volume 4to edition of 1725, including also the Index of the Characters, Sentiments, Speeches and Descriptions, which is present here in volume 7.

The edition is very scarce and only few libraries world-wide have a copy in their holdings.

Not in Lowndes

Order-nr.: 57046