Shakespeare and Goethe: Masterpieces of European Literature from the Schøyen Collection

The sale of Shakespeare and Goethe: Masterpieces of European Literature from the Schøyen Collection encompasses rare books and manuscripts from the celebrated national writers of England and Germany. Included in the sale are several major works and true rarities, from the Second Folio of Shakespeare’s collected plays, to a copy of Goethe’s Von Deutscher Baukunst (1773), a landmark essay in praise of German architecture which, excepting reviews in periodicals, was the author’s first appearance in print; from a contemporary manuscript actor’s part from Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part I, Act II, to one of the scarcest books in major German literature, Goethe’s Das Römische Carneval (1789), a beautifully illustrated account of his experience of the Roman carnivals; from the annotated prompt copy of Hamlet (1683) used by a contemporary actor, very likely Thomas Betterton (1635-1710), the greatest actor of his day, to autograph poems by Goethe and a signed copy of his exceedingly uncommon list of the autographs in his own collection, privately printed in just 300 copies.

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