Shakespeare William Cunningham James (2 results)

First edition. 238 pages with index. Cloth. Fine in like dustjacket. Ask to see our other Shakespeare titles.

Pictorial title page offers altered title and imprint address - "The Works of William Shakspeare. With Life by A.C. Cunningham, Esq. and Illustrations." Philadelphia: Published by James B. Smith & Co., 146 Chestnut Street. i-xxxvi, 1-924 pages. Hardcover: H 23.25cm x L 15cm. Contemporary full calf leather boards rubbed and scuffed with worn corners; shallow chipping at spine ends; small edge losses to spine's black title label which retains bright gilt lettering; slender splitting at joint ends but hinges are firm. Marbled text block edges and endpapers. Antiquarian ink inscription "James H. McCreary | Howard College | Ala" repeated in pencil on front flyleaf; impression of ink inscription carries through adjoining front fly and frontis recto; same owner's pencil inscription on slightly pulled rear flyleaf verso and on tissue guard at page 227. Interior foxing strongest to b/w plates, their tissue guards, and opposing pages; mostly light to occasionally mild foxing to interior leaves. Double column text. Text block is firm. The inscription is undoubtedly that of James Hunter McCreary (1839-1927) of Turnbull, Monroe County, Alabama as the book was part of a small collection of mid-19th century volumes all having a McCreary family lineage. James McCreary enlisted as a private in Company H, 2nd Alabama Cavalry in 1861 but was commissioned as a captain in May 1862 ultimately serving nearly two and half years before being discharged in April 1864. Founded in 1841 in Marion, Alabama, Howard College moved to Birmingham in 1887 and was renamed Samford University in the 1960s. As publisher James B. Smith & Co. did not provide a date it seems likely that McCreary would have purchased the tome while still a student prior to his Civil War service so like it was issued between 1857-1861. Please note that this thick book has an approximate shipping weight of 3.5 pounds (1.58 kg) and may require additional postage for any postal class other than domestic Media Mail.…