And of strange noyses, crackes, and sundry forewarnynges, which commonly happen before the death of menne, great slaughters, & alterations of kyngdomes.
EARLY MODERN GHOSTS - A SOURCE FOR HAMLET
Of Ghostes and Spirites Walking by Nyght And of strange noyses, crackes, and sundry forewarnynges, which commonly happen before the death of menne, great slaughters, & alterations of kyngdomes.
Printed at London by Henry Benneyman for Richard Watkyns, 1572.
First English edition. 4to (183 x 135mm). Bound in full green morocco by Stikeman. A near fine copy, generally very fresh, with light marks to the title page and final leaf, but otherwise crisp. Corner chip to C3.
The first edition in English of one of the most significant and popular early modern works on demonology, credited as a source for Shakespeare's Hamlet.
Lavater was a Swiss protestant reformer, whose work was originally printed in the Netherlands in 1569. His work was the most significant contribution to the debate on ghosts and spirits in the Elizabethan era. Its significance has been lauded by a number of Shakespeare scholars over the course of the previous century. In 1906, F.W. Moorman described it as "the most elaborate treatment of [the] theological ghost question" in arguing for the direct bearing it had on Shakespeare when writing Hamlet. More recently Jonathan Bate has cited it as influencing Hamlet's dilemma in comprehending the ghost of his father.
Rare. No other complete copy has been sold for over 70 years, and only one other undefective copy has been offered since 1921, when this very copy was sold at Herman Le Roy Edgar's sale at the Anderson Galleries. The USTC locates fifteen copies in institutions, with three copies held by the Folger.
PROVENANCE: Undated early inscription "SS" to title page; Herman Le Roy Edgar (1865-1938), bookplate to front pastedown, sold at his sale (Anderson Galleries, 24th January 1921, lot 389, "of excessive rarity"); Leo S. Bing (1874-1956), real estate mogul and collector, sold Christies New York (18th December 2003, lot 128).
Stock ID: 44163
£50,000.00
