Lamb, Mary and Charles; cheapest Rackham, Arthur. Tales From Shakespeare (1909) Hardcover, Illustrated

Lamb, Mary and Charles. Rackham, Arthur (illustrator). Tales From Shakespeare. 1909. The Temple Press. London. 6.5 X 9.2 (16.5 X 24.5). [2] half-title; [2]; illustrated frontice; title; publisher's page; v-xii; pp. 1-304; [2]. Red cloth boards with gilt cover design, depicting two characters reading, framed by floral design and bordered title design. Gilt spine detail of fairy in flight with title, author and illustrator. Black and white designs throughout, along with 12 full-page colour illustrations. Reprinted from the 1899 edition. Minor foxing to pages throughout but does not impact readability or images. Gift inscription in pencil on front attached endpaper.

Tales of Shakespeare aims to make these much-loved stories accessible, while training as much of the original language as possible cheapest. In this volume, Mary focused her attentions on comedies while Charles took on the tragedies. The more complex, historical tales are omitted. It quickly became one of the best-selling titles in the nineteenth century.

Mary (1764-1847) and Charles (1775-1834) Lamb were siblings, literary enthusiasts and authors, best known for collaborating on the collection Tales From Shakespeare. In 1796 the Lamb finally experienced great tragedy when Mary, in the throes of a psychological break, murdered their mother. This did not stop their relationship and together they began to exceed in the literary community, even overseeing a literary circle in London that included poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.