One autograph book containing the signatures of 764 subscribers to Boydell's Shakespeare venture. The first sheet after the title page contains entries for George III, Queen Charlotte, and the Prince of Wales. Other signers include the dukes of Roxburghe, Devonshire, Marlborough, Bedford, Rutland, and Buckingham; the Earl of Spenser, and many other prominent men and women. Two sheets of memoranda, one entry in which is dated to 1808, are tipped-in at the end. The volume described herein was item 929 in the Thomas Turner sale of 1860 (Puttick & Simpson), from which it was purchased by T.P. Barton.
Notes (date):
Dates established from the period during which Boydell's Shakespeare Gallery was first opened (1789) to the latest inscribed date in the volume, which is present on the 76th leaf in a pasted-on entry for James Mingay, dated March 6th, 1804.
Notes (citation):
Boston Public Library. Catalogue of the Barton Collection, Shakepeariana, page 80, entry 1099
Notes (object):
Bound in green morocco double panelled in gilt. The spine is ruled in gilt and stamped in blind, with the title stamped in gilt. The armorial bookplate of the Barton Library is present on the front pastedown.
IIIF Manifest