1824 Authenticity of William Shakespeare's Portraits : James Boaden

An Inquiry into the Authenticity of Various Pictures and Prints, Which, from the Decease of the Poet to Our Own Times, Have Been Offered to the Public as Portraits of Shakespeare

By James Boaden

London: Printed for Robert Triphook, 1824. FIrst Edition. Half-leather binding, 8vo, pp v, [i], 206, [ii]. With 5 engravings including the frontispiece, all present as called for. Bookplate to iside board belonging to Giles Alexander Esme Gordon (Literary agent, editor, and author)

CONDITION
A good sound copy. The leather binding is good. Title label a little chipped. Inner joints secure with no cracking. All contents present and pages are very clean throughout and free from foxing, stains etc. Overall a very good first edition.

Giles Alexander Esme Gordon was a highly respected literary agent in England who also wrote experimental fiction. Initially trained in design at Edinburgh Art College, his lack of drawing skills led him instead to a trainee position at the publisher Oliver & Boyd in 1959. This would be followed by several more editorial jobs for various publishing companies, including Secker & Warburg, Hutchinson & Co., Penguin Books, and Victor Gollancz. Having by the early 1970s published several books himself, including the poetry collections Two and Two Make One (1966), Twelve Poems for Callum (1970), and Between Appointments (1971), short story collections such as Pictures from an Exhibition (1970), and the experimental novels The Umbrella Man (1971) and About a Marriage (1972), Gordon possessed insights from both ends of the publishing business that would make him an effective literary agent. He joined Anthony Sheil Associates in 1972, which later became Sheil Land Associates in 1990, working with such talents as Peter Ackroyd, Sue Townsend, and members of the British royalty. In 1995, Gordon left Sheil Land to work for Curtis Brown as both its director and literary agent. Though never as critically or popularly successful as the authors for whom he served as agent, Gordon continued to write and edit books throughout his career. Some of his later books include the poetry collection The Oban Poems (1977), the novels Couple (1978) and Ambrose's Vision: Sketches towards the Creation of a Cathedral (1980), the coauthored nonfiction work Scotland from the Air (1995), and his tongue-in-cheek memoirs of his life in publishing, Aren't We Due a Royalty Statement? (1993). For his contributions to publishing, Gordon was honored by being named a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 1990.

(Location : Platform : Antique Bindings)