FIRST DANISH EDITION OF "ROMEO AND JULIET", "RICHARD III", "JULIUS CAESAR", "HENRY VIII", ETC.

SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM.

Tragiske Værker, oversatte af Peter Foersom (Første - Fierde Deel) & P.F. Wulff. 9 Dele [Tragic Works, Translated by Peter Foersom & P.F. 9 Parts - all].

Kiøbenhavn, 1807-25.

Small 8vo. Bound in 9 contemporary brown half calf bindings with richly gilt spines. Bindings with some wear, especially capitals and corners. Vol. 2 with part of spine glued back on. Some brownspotting. No engraving in vol. one (as otherwise mentioned on the title-page).

Scarce complete run of all 9 volumes of the first edition of the fist Danish edition of Shakespeare's Tragic Works, containing the first editions of the first translations into Danish of several of Shakespeare's tragic works: Romeo and Juliet; Julius Caesar; Richard II; Henry IV; Henry V; Henry VI; Richard III; Coriolanus; King John; Henry VIII; Cymbeline; As You Like It.

The first volume is in the very rare first printing (usually it is found in the second, revised edition from 1811). These nine volumes constitute the entire "Tragic Works", begun by the renowned Danish translator Peter Foersom, who finished the first four volumes and left part of the fifth in manuscript, when he died in 1817. After his death, P.F. Wulf continued the great task of translating Shakespeare's Tragic works into Danish, finishing the fifth volume and doing the last four on his own (1818-1825).

The first four volumes contain:
Julius Caesar; Hamlet; King Lear; Romeo and Juliet; Richard II; Henry IV; Henry V. Of these, the following have been translated and printed before: Hamlet (1777), King Lear (1790-92), but the rest of them are in the first Danish translations, first printings.

Volume five consists in Henry VI, and volumes six to nine: Henry VI (continued); Richard III; Othello; Coriolanus; King John; Henry VIII; Cymbeline; As You Like It. Of these, the following have been translated and printed before: Othello (1792), Cymbeline (1792), but the rest of them are in the first Danish translations, first printings.

The present translations of Shakespeare's works are considered the most important in Danish literature and became the standard version of the works. The first edition of these translations are quite scarce, especially all nine volumes together, and with the first volume in the first issue.

(PMM 122 - first edition).

Order-nr.: 51100