Saturday, July 9, 2011

Variations Upon a Theme: Shakespeare Part II




When we went to the Globe, I picked up a facsimile of a first edition print of Shakespeare's Loves Labour's Lost. I've never read this play and thought I'd give this copy a try, but found this edition far too difficult to absorb at midnight on a train headed home. The folios were first published in 1623 and I found the replication of print styles intriguing. I've included the first photo to give an idea of the size of the thing: loads longer and wider than any regular book, which oddly gives the book a sort of pathos. The second photo is to demonstrate the style of the print, which is surprisingly challenging to read, and tests an ability to read 17th c. typescript.

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