SHAKESPEARE, WILLIAM — The Merry Wives of Windsor

London, England: Frederick A. Stokes, 1910. 1st Edition; 1st Printing. Hardcover. Illustrated by Hugh Thomson. Color Illustrations; This is an oversized hardback book. The book is in Very Good condition and is lacking the dust jacket. The spine ends and corners of the book covers have some lightish bumping and rubbing. There are several small spots of discoloration to the front cover. The text pages are clean and bright, though the front and rear endpapers have noticeable foxing and the front endpaper has a previous owner's inked gift notation. Included are 40 full color, full page tipped-in plates with tissue guards. "Thomson also gained praise and influenced many young artists through his book illustrations. He notably illustrated editions of William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Charles Dickens. His illustrations for Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford (1891) inspired a slew of publishers to produce a series of gift books in a similar style ("crown octavo with three edges gilt, bound in dark green cloth, front and spine heavily stamped in gold"). Between 1886 and 1900, he illustrated a set of small classics for Macmillans and Kegan Paul. Much of his work during that period consisted of elaborately illustrated gift books and reprints of popular classics. Thomson's most popular illustrations were "fine line drawing of rural characters and gentle countrified society"." (from Wikipedia). Very Good .