[COPY OF A CONFEDERATE PRISONER OF WAR] [JOHN HAMPDEN CHAMBERLAYNE] SHAKESPEARE, William

The Dramatick Works...Printed Complete with Dr. Samuel Johnson's Preface and Notes, to which is prefixed the Life of the Author. Nos. V, VIII, and XIV (only, of 18)

Boston: Munroe & Francis, 1807-8. The Second Boston Edition. Octavo (19.5cm). The three volumes bound into later plain cloth-covered boards, with the original front and rear wrappers preserved. The volume bears a printed paper spine label, reading: "Shakespeare / Used by J.F.C. / at / Johnson's Island / 1863-'64." Wrappers rubbed (Vol. XIV rather heavily, with some loss of legibility); engraved title page is present in v.5 but lacking in subsequent volumes, if issued; texts remain fresh, with some mild foxing, still complete and sound, about Very Good. Pencil gift inscription inside front cover: "C.G. Chamberlayne from his loving Aunt [Lucy Parke Chamberlayne Bagby] in memory of his father," dated Dec 23, 1917.

The front free endpaper bears a lengthy holograph annotation regarding provenance of the book: "These odd volumes of Shakespeare were sent to my dear brother John Hampden Chamberlayne while a prisoner at Johnson's Island 1863-64, by Mr. John Campbell of New York - the husband of our cousin Sally Smith - daughter of Dr. Jno. Augustine Smith. My brother brought them to me when he came from prison - March 1864."

John Hampden "Ham" Chamberlayne (1838-1882), scion of a prominent mercantile family of Richmond, served with distinction in the Army of Northern Virginia, first as a private in the 21st Virginia Infantry, later as an artillery officer and adjutant and aide-de-camp to Generals A.P. Hill and Reuben Lindsay Walker. He was taken prisoner at Gettysburg in 1863 and incarcerated at Johnson's Island, the Union prison camp on Lake Erie, until March, 1864. After the war, Chamberlayne would go on to a distinguished career as a newspaperman, serving briefly as editor of the Norfolk Virginian before returning to Richmond in 1876 to establish The State, a daily evening newspaper which he owned and edited until his death in 1882. A volume of his Civil War letters, Ham Chamberlayne, Virginian: Letters and Papers of an Artillery Officer in the War for Southern Independence, edited by his son, was published posthumously (Richmond: 1932).

An historically important edition of Shakespeare, being only the third edition of the Works to be printed in America (preceded by a Philadelphia edition in 1796 and the first Boston edition, also printed by Munroe & Francis, 1802-4). According to a later note by the publisher, the numbers were serially issued, with two plays per issue: "In 1802 Munroe and Francis issued proposals for publishing an edition of Shakespeare in serial numbers, two to a vol. at 50cts. per no. - 16 numbers (about 3000 copies). Two editions were printed...all printed from types, of course reset every edition, as stereotype was not then known..." (quoted in Jane Sherzer, "American Editions of Shakespeare: 1753-1866" in PMLA v.22 no.4 (1907), p.642). In fact, according to the "Conditions" printed on the rear wrapper of each number, the series (at least for the Second Edition) ran to 18 numbers and was priced at 42¢ per issue. The volumes bound here may thus be considered complete unto themselves, and their unusual provenance provides a compelling instance of the vernacular reception to Shakespeare in Civil War-era America.

Price: $650.00

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