The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare. The Kings Treasuries of Literature. General Editor Sir A T Quiller Couch. London J M Dent and Sons Ltd. Edited by S E Maltby M A. 1948 reprint edition. In good condition but please note that there are some pencil markings throughout.
Each volume was a small-sized cloth-bound hardcover book (approximately 15cm tall x 11cm wide). Different titles were bound in different cloth colours (burgundy/brick red, maroon/brown, light blue, dark blue, light green, dark green). The cloth binding were lettered and decorated in gilt (that is, gold) on the spine. The lower section of the front cover featured a small blind stamped (that is, embossed) of a female head (classical Greek or Roman style) in profile.
Each volume had an illustrated frontispiece (often a portrait of the book's author) and a decorated title page. Both the frontispiece and the title pages featured wood engraved flower and leaf borders and sometimes included other decorated elements, such as a globe of the world.
The left side front endpaper featured a cartouche (decorative box) with the words "This Book Belongs To ___". The right side front endpaper featured another cartouche with the following quotation: "A Good Book is the Precious Life-Blood of a Master Spirit - Milton".
Many volumes included, in addition to the main text, an introduction, commentaries, a short biography, and questions and exercises for students. Some also had a glossary, publisher's advertisements (included a selective listing of other volumes in the series) and black and white illustrations throughout the text. https://www.publishinghistory.com/kings-treasuries-of-literature-dent.html
The Merchant of Venice William Shakespeare
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