Folio Archives 479: Introductions to Shakespeare - 1977
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1wcarter
Introductions to Shakespeare, Being the Introductions to the Individual Plays
in the Folio Society Editions 1950-76. 1977
Since its foundation in 1947 the Folio Society has produced numerous sets of Shakespeare’s works. The first of these editions was the “Rainbow Shakespeare series”. They were so named because every volume was a different colour, these books covered all of Shakespeare’s 37 plays in separate small volumes, but it took the FS 26 years to complete the series. The early works until 1959 were covered with a dust-jacket rather than housed in a slipcase, but as these earlier editions had reprints, slipcases replaced the dust-jackets.
Each volume was introduced by a different actor, producer or other person who was involved in the performance of the play. These books were illustrated in colour with stage costume designs, with eight pictures per volume. They were bound in buckram with a feather pattern in gold and black on the front. The page tops were stained the same colour as the binding. The spine titling ran from bottom to top, the slipcases were a mottled grey and the endpapers plain white.
The Comedy of Errors from this set was reviewed separately here.
The introductions for all these books were collected in this single volume, and Charles Ede, the founder of The Folio Society, wrote a foreword for the collection which explained the rationale behind the design of the books, which emphasised the actual stage (or in one case film) production of each play.
The introductions were all by written not by scholars, but by major figures in the English theatre who had been involved in staging the play. They vary from four to eleven pages in length and are fascinating discussions about each play, each introducer having their own style and breadth of information. They make a wonderful resource for any Shakespearian scholar or background details for a dilettante.
This 248 page book is illustrated with twelve leaves of colour designs from the plays. It is printed letterpress, as were all FS books at this time, and it is three-quarter bound in orange cloth with pale brown paper on the front board, printed in brown and black with the names of all the contributors. The spine titling runs from bottom to top. The page tops are stained orange, it has pale orange endleaves and is housed in a pale yellow-brown textured slipcase that measures 23.7x16.4cm.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
in the Folio Society Editions 1950-76. 1977
Since its foundation in 1947 the Folio Society has produced numerous sets of Shakespeare’s works. The first of these editions was the “Rainbow Shakespeare series”. They were so named because every volume was a different colour, these books covered all of Shakespeare’s 37 plays in separate small volumes, but it took the FS 26 years to complete the series. The early works until 1959 were covered with a dust-jacket rather than housed in a slipcase, but as these earlier editions had reprints, slipcases replaced the dust-jackets.
Each volume was introduced by a different actor, producer or other person who was involved in the performance of the play. These books were illustrated in colour with stage costume designs, with eight pictures per volume. They were bound in buckram with a feather pattern in gold and black on the front. The page tops were stained the same colour as the binding. The spine titling ran from bottom to top, the slipcases were a mottled grey and the endpapers plain white.
The Comedy of Errors from this set was reviewed separately here.
The introductions for all these books were collected in this single volume, and Charles Ede, the founder of The Folio Society, wrote a foreword for the collection which explained the rationale behind the design of the books, which emphasised the actual stage (or in one case film) production of each play.
The introductions were all by written not by scholars, but by major figures in the English theatre who had been involved in staging the play. They vary from four to eleven pages in length and are fascinating discussions about each play, each introducer having their own style and breadth of information. They make a wonderful resource for any Shakespearian scholar or background details for a dilettante.
This 248 page book is illustrated with twelve leaves of colour designs from the plays. It is printed letterpress, as were all FS books at this time, and it is three-quarter bound in orange cloth with pale brown paper on the front board, printed in brown and black with the names of all the contributors. The spine titling runs from bottom to top. The page tops are stained orange, it has pale orange endleaves and is housed in a pale yellow-brown textured slipcase that measures 23.7x16.4cm.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
3wcarter
>2 coynedj:
But it is cheap, and letterpress! ;-)
But it is cheap, and letterpress! ;-)
4affle
The 1969 production of The Merchant of Venice illustrated here was the first time I saw Olivier live in a theatre, and the first time I experienced the power such an actor can hold over an audience. I had previously seen some famous performances, like Albert Finney in Luther and Donald Pleasance in The Caretaker, but nothing to match Olivier's grip. Joan Plowright was Portia. Much later in life, I was an amateur Shylock and felt I was being impertinent. Thanks for the prod to memory, Warwick.
