Objects in Focus: The Limited Editions Club’s Shakespeare Series
Over the centuries, artists have represented Shakespeare’s characters and stories in many ways. This blog explores the illustrations in The Limited Editions Club’s editions of The Tempest (1939) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1939) from the Library at Shakespeare’s Globe’s collections.
The Limited Editions Club
The Limited Editions Club was founded in 1929 by George Macy, an American publisher. The business revolved around publishing beautifully illustrated classic titles in small quantities with club members paying a subscription.
The Library at Shakespeare’s Globe holds a full set of the Limited Editions Club’s Shakespeare Series, which comprises 37 publications. Each book in the series was illustrated by a different artist, who had freedom to produce the illustrations in the style of the choosing.
Every book in the Shakespeare Series has the same patterned front cover. The pattern is a reproduction of an Elizabethan wall painting in The Crown Tavern, Oxford. William Shakespeare was thought to have stayed in The Crown Tavern while visiting his friend John Davenant. The painting features an interlacing trellis pattern that encloses flowers and fruits. The painting was redrawn by Bruce Rogers for the Shakespeare Series. The wall painting was rediscovered in 1927, having been hidden behind wooden panels since the seventeenth century. Now known as The Painted Room, it is preserved by the Oxford Preservation Trust and open to the public.
The series was kindly given to Shakespeare’s Globe by John G. Dreyfus (1918-2002), a British book designer and historian of printing.
The Tempest (1939) illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
Edward A. Wilson (1886 – 1970) was best known for his book and magazine illustrations. Wilson was born in Glasgow. However, he and his family emigrated to the United States in 1893 and settled in Chicago. After completing training at the Art Institute of Chicago, Wilson spent most of his adult life in New York. Over the course of his career, Wilson contributed illustrations to over 70 different books. Wilson’s illustrations frequently depicted monochromatic maritime scenes and landscapes.
His illustrations in the Limited Editions Club’s The Tempest show a departure from his usual style. Instead of monochromatic realism, the artworks in The Tempest pair bold and bright colours with fluid drawings. Wilson’s skill in maritime illustration can be seen with the inclusion of sea and weather motifs to enhance the characterisation of Ariel.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1939) illustrated by Arthur Rackham
Arthur Rackham (1867 – 1939) was a renowned English book illustrator, known for his fantasy illustrations. He was perhaps best known for providing the original illustrations for J.M. Barrie’s 1906 novel Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens. Rackham’s work was characterised by his watercolour and pencil illustrations of fairy tales and mythology. As such, Rackham’s style lent itself well to depicting the whimsical scenes in A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Rackham illustrated another edition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream in 1908 for Doubleday Press, over 30 years prior to the publication of the Shakespeare Series. Rackham produced further illustrations of A Midsummer Night’s Dream specifically for the Limited Editions Club edition. Rackham passed away in 1939 at the age of 71, marking the Limited Editions Club’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream as one of the last books featuring Rackham’s work published during his lifetime.
Both The Tempest and A Midsummer Night’s Dream will be on display in the foyer at Shakespeare’s Globe until February 2026.
FINIS.
Support our new Research & Collections Centre
We are building a new Research & Collections Centre including London’s first dedicated Shakespeare Library, free and open-to-all. We need your support to help us complete this build, and open up Research & Collections at Shakespeare’s Globe.
All donations towards Research & Collections will be doubled thanks to a generous anonymous donor who will match gifts from our public fundraising appeal.
Discover More