[SHAKESPEARE, William]. The Plays and Poems of William Shakespeare with the life and portrait of the poet

(Leipzig): Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1843-1844. First edition thus (but a later c.1860 printing). Volumes 1-7. Complete in seven volumes the works include all 37 plays, his poems, and a brief biography. The text of the plays was provided by John Payne Collier, a noted Shakespearean scholar of the time, and his name appeared prominently on the title page of the first printings. Unfortunately he was later exposed as a forger, and the use of his name became a source of embarrassment rather than pride. Later reprints from about 1860 onwards, don’t show Collier’s name, and in 1868 a new edition was issued using a text provided by Rev. Alexander Dyce. This set bound by N.H. Michell (Amsterdam) with pebbled boards and leather spine with raised bands and gilt decoration. Bindings rubbed at edges but still very presentable.