Any thoughts on the Nonesuch Press Coronation Shakespeare?
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1GusLogan
Is this internally an entirely different thing to the much-celebrated 1929 Nonesuch set? The pictures I’ve been able to find so far lead me to think it is. If so, is there anything positive to be said about it?
I appreciate it’s not a fine edition, I’m considering it as an alternative to the Heritage Press three-volume set, which is harder to find in Europe (very inexpensive in the US, but about $80 shipping...).
I appreciate it’s not a fine edition, I’m considering it as an alternative to the Heritage Press three-volume set, which is harder to find in Europe (very inexpensive in the US, but about $80 shipping...).
2dlphcoracl
>1 GusLogan:
The 1953 Nonesuch Coronation edition uses the same text (First Folio with Quarto variants and a selection of modern readings) as the famous 1929 Nonesuch edition of The Complete Shakespeare 7-volume set. However, it is the trade edition (or should be thought of as such) of the 1929 set and bears no resemblance with regard to quality (letterpress printing, handmade paper, binding, etc.).
The 1953 Nonesuch Coronation edition uses the same text (First Folio with Quarto variants and a selection of modern readings) as the famous 1929 Nonesuch edition of The Complete Shakespeare 7-volume set. However, it is the trade edition (or should be thought of as such) of the 1929 set and bears no resemblance with regard to quality (letterpress printing, handmade paper, binding, etc.).
4c_schelle
>3 GusLogan: To do that you use > followed by the number of the post you want to respond to. You can find some more helpful information on the Folio Society Devotees Wiki https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/Groups:Folio_Society_Devotees#Technical_...
5astropi
2: I'm surprised the 1953 edition is not letterpress. I assumed that in the 50s they were still letterpressing most everything? Is there a year they stopped?
6bookist
Since the original post was asking if there is anything positive to say about this set, I thought I’d share part of a contemporary review (by John Crow in The Listener).
It begins:
This new Nonesuch Shakespeare is the most lovely and desirable Shakespeare there has ever been. It is, naturally, more convenient than the former seven-volume Nonesuch edition; you can take it all away with you for the week-end. I personally think it a more beautiful production. Its four volumes contain the thirty-six plays of the First Folio, plus ‘Pericles’, ‘Edward III’, ‘Sir Thomas More’, and ’Two Noble Kinsmen’, and the poems and degraded versions of six of the plays.They fit into a cardboard case of about six by six by eight and can be crammed into a country gentleman’s ulster pocket more easily than a hare. The type is clear, readable, and beautiful; the paper is an India paper which is opaque and doesn’t demand the services of a spit or a blast of breath when you want to turn over; the binding is pleasant to behold and the books when opened do not snap shut with a clang, but lie beautifully spread upon the table. The text of the plays is a careful reprint of the Lee facsimile of the First Folio, unmodernised. No better edition for ‘those who are reading Shakespeare for pleasure’ has been published.
The reviewer then goes on to criticise some specific editorial decisions and point out some minor errors (which were corrected by Nonesuch in subsequent printings).
He concludes:
I am most sorry to have gone nagging along about the deficiencies of something that has given me incalculable pleasure. It would have been uncivil of me to judge so handsome a book by easy standards. It is the best edition of Shakespeare there is; it would not have been too difficult to make it the best there could be.
It begins:
This new Nonesuch Shakespeare is the most lovely and desirable Shakespeare there has ever been. It is, naturally, more convenient than the former seven-volume Nonesuch edition; you can take it all away with you for the week-end. I personally think it a more beautiful production. Its four volumes contain the thirty-six plays of the First Folio, plus ‘Pericles’, ‘Edward III’, ‘Sir Thomas More’, and ’Two Noble Kinsmen’, and the poems and degraded versions of six of the plays.They fit into a cardboard case of about six by six by eight and can be crammed into a country gentleman’s ulster pocket more easily than a hare. The type is clear, readable, and beautiful; the paper is an India paper which is opaque and doesn’t demand the services of a spit or a blast of breath when you want to turn over; the binding is pleasant to behold and the books when opened do not snap shut with a clang, but lie beautifully spread upon the table. The text of the plays is a careful reprint of the Lee facsimile of the First Folio, unmodernised. No better edition for ‘those who are reading Shakespeare for pleasure’ has been published.
The reviewer then goes on to criticise some specific editorial decisions and point out some minor errors (which were corrected by Nonesuch in subsequent printings).
He concludes:
I am most sorry to have gone nagging along about the deficiencies of something that has given me incalculable pleasure. It would have been uncivil of me to judge so handsome a book by easy standards. It is the best edition of Shakespeare there is; it would not have been too difficult to make it the best there could be.
7GusLogan
>6 bookist:
Belated thanks, a great addition. I wonder if Crow often read all the plays in one weekend…
Belated thanks, a great addition. I wonder if Crow often read all the plays in one weekend…
