Description
The American Edition of Boydell's Illustrations of the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare
These prints are from The American Edition of Boydell's Illustrations of the Dramatic Works of Shakespeare, by the most Eminent Artists of Great Britian. In 1786, John Boydell (1719-1804), a respected publisher of books, illustrations and engravings, comissioned the finest painters of his day to illustrate the most memorable scenes from Shakespeare's plays. Boydell financed this ambitious project himself, and built The Shakespeare Gallery in Pall Mall to exhibit the paintings. The gallery opened in 1789 and the first set of engravings from the paintings were issued in 1791. Unfortunately, the French Revolution closed off the Europen market and Boydell was unable to successfully export his prints, books and engravings. To avoid bankruptcy, Boydell chose to sell the contents of the gallery by lottery. The sale took place shortly after his death in 1804, and most of the original paintings have either been lost or destroyed.
An enterprising American dentist, Shearjashub Spooner (1809-1859), acquired Boydell's original plates and re-engraved the worn areas. In 1852, Spooner published a two-volume American edition of Boydell's illustrations from the restored plates. These prints are from this American edition.
The prints are on heavy stock paper measuring approximately 23¼" by 29".