SHAKESPEARE, William - ALKEN, Henry.

£3,000 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Shakespeare's Seven Ages of Man. First edition of this comic Regency interpretation of the famous lines from As You Like It, a popular theme for British engravers. Henry Alken (1785-1851), "a very fine draughtsman", was among the most prolific illustrators and engravers of the first half of the 19th century (Vesey-FitzGerald).The seven vibrantly coloured plates show "The Infant", "The School-Boy", "The Lover", "The Soldier", "The Justice", "The Sixth Age", and the "Last Scene of All."Provenance: Herbert L. Carlebach (1889–1966), financier, black morocco book label on inner face of portfolio; his sale, Parke-Bernet Galleries, 20 January 1948, lot 4 – Mary Crapo Hyde, Viscountess Eccles (1912–2003), with her bookplate - Stephen C. Massey.

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