Europe, England, 18th century. Four engravings of scenes from William Shakespeare's plays published by John Boydell in Great Britain during the 1780s and 1790s. These include: King Lear drawn and engraved by Francis Legat after a painting by James Barry; Anthony and Cleopatra after a painting by Tresham, engraved by G.S. and I.G. Facius; Measure for Measure Act V. Scene 1, engraved by Jean-Pierre Simon after a painting by Thomas Kirk; and King Henry the Fourth Act II. Scene II engraved by Sam Middiman after a painting by Robert Smirke and Joseph Farrington. William Shakespeare's works reflected the Renaissance in that his characters were more psychologically complex than those of earlier pre-Renaissance plays. In addition, The Bard drew upon the classics of Greece and Rome, hence reflecting the Renaissance's embrace of the Classical World. Size of image: 17" L x 23.5" W (43.2 cm x 59.7 cm) Size of sheet: 23" L x 29" W (58.4 cm x 73.7 cm)

Josiah Boydell, born in Hawarden, Flintshire (northeast Wales), moved to London in 1766 to apprentice himself to his uncle John Boydell; he later became John's partner at his publishing house. Together they created the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery, a project created in an effort to foster a school of British history painting (the Boydells were very worried about the French surpassing the English in this regard). Their plans included producing an illustrated version of Shakespeare's plays and a folio of prints based on paintings done by different contemporary painters. During the 1790s, they showed these paintings at their London gallery, which was incredibly popular, capitalizing on renewed interest in Shakespeare's works in the late 18th century. The London press reported weekly on the building of the gallery on Pall Mall. Now, most of the original paintings have been lost, making the engravings from the folio the major surviving record of this fascinating effort.

Provenance: private Lucille Lucas collection, Crested Butte, Colorado, USA

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#134187

Measure for Measure: normal toning, some stains in the margins, and tears to the peripheries that do not impact the image. Nice plate mark and strong impression. Henry the Fourth: slight toning to margins, tears and losses to peripheries that do not impact the image, strong impression. King Lear: slight toning visible in the margins, creases and stains in margins, minor nicks and tear to peripheries that do not impact the image. Vivid imagery and text. Antony and Cleopatra: expected toning, nicks/tears/creases to margins that do not impact the image, strong plate mark, vivid text and image.