BEAUMONT, Francis (1584-1616) and John FLETCHER (1579-1625). Comedies and Tragedies Written by Francis Beaumont and John Fletcher Gentlemen. Never printed before, And now published by the Authours Originall Copies. London: Printed for Humphrey Robinson and Humphrey Moseley, 1647.

Folio in fours (318 x 203 mm). Double column text. Engraved frontispiece portrait of Fletcher by W. Marshall, ornamental woodcut head- and tail-pieces. (Upper margin of frontispiece slightly shaved to border.) Early 19th century quarter morocco, marbled boards (rebacked, original spine laid down, corners repairs, boards rubbed); morocco slipcase. Provenance: Mortimer L. Schiff, 1877-1931 (morocco book label).

FIRST EDITION, second state of the portrait with "Vates Duplex" in uppercase. Beaumont and Fletcher's Comedies are considered "almost equal in importance in English literature to the First Folio of Shakespeare" (Rosenbach 25:7). THE MORTIMER SCHIFF COPY. Schiff, an American book collector, is "remembered as a connoisseur who brought together an unrivalled collection of decorative bindings and illustrated books" (Dickinson, DABC pp. 281-82). Pforzheimer 53; Wing B1581.
Property from the Collection of Dr. K. William Harter, Alexandria, Virginia