Beschreibung:

MOORE, Henry (1898-1986) -- SHAKESPEARE, William (1554-1616). Hamlet . Edited by Stanley Wells. Rome: Delfino, [1985].
MOORE, Henry (1898-1986) -- SHAKESPEARE, William (1554-1616). Hamlet . Edited by Stanley Wells. Rome: Delfino, [1985]. 2° (477 x 335mm). 10 offset lithographs in colours after Henry Moore printed tissue-guards. Original brick-red morocco over wood bevelled boards, rectangular bronze bas-relief 'Hamlet's Dilemma' by Moore mounted on upper side (lacking stand, sides with a few minor scuffs and very faintly faded). Provenance : Levi Fox (1914-2006, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust 1945-1989 and Shakespeare scholar, metal bookplate with engraved presentation inscription; bequeathed to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and then de-accessed as a duplicate). COPY G OF 21 LETTERED AD PERSONAM COPIES of this Henry Moore illustrated Hamlet , with a bas-relief bronze mounted on the front cover: a recasting of the 'Reclining Figure' portion of 'Relief: Three Quarters Mother and Child and Reclining Figure', 1977 (cf. A. Bowness, Henry Moore - Complete Sculpture, Volume 5, 1974-1980 , 1983; listed and illustrated as catalogue raisonné no. 728). The statement of edition calls for a further 1200 copies, but the rarity of this book in commerce suggests that far fewer were made. ABPC records no copy of this lettered issue at auction in over 35 years, and just one copy of the larger, numbered issue. WorldCat locates just two copies: at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Stanley Wells' copy at the Henry Moore Foundation. Levi Fox, first owner of this copy, bequeathed his entire library to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.