SHAKESPEARE, William.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Works. An early Scottish imprint of Shakespeare, published to controversy. Its publisher, Alexander Donaldson (d. 1794), was key to establishing British copyright limitations and "facilitating an expansion in popular Shakespeare publishing in the 19th century" (Murphy, p. 161).The text of this edition follows the first Edinburgh edition of Shakespeare, issued in 1753 by a consortium which included Donaldson. Scottish publishing in the 18th century relied on undercutting the prices of their London rivals. In response, the London industry insisted that they held perpetual property rights over their texts. Donaldson emerged as the figurehead of opposition, engaging in many legal debates and opening a London branch with the express purpose of impinging on the territory of English booksellers.In 1774, Donaldson finally won the debate when the House of Lords ruled in his favour. As a result, not only his compatriots but also English publishers benefited from being able to issue affordable editions of work in the public domain, such as that of Shakespeare.Donaldson shared the printing of this work with fellow Scot Walter Ruddiman. Two states of the title pages exist, one listing Donaldson, the other Ruddiman. This set has the former.

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