Framed Leaf from Shakespeare's Fourth Folio (The Merchant of Venice)

[London]: [Printed for H. Herringman, E. Brewster, and R. Bentley], 1685 9 ¼" x 14 ½". Original leaf of The Merchant of Venice from Shakespeare's Fourth Folio, printed on both sides (p. 160 on front side, p. 159 on reserve side), spanning the end of Act 3, Scene 4, the entire Act 3, Scene 5, and the beginning of Act 4, Scene 1 (Act 3, Scenes 4 and 5 are on p. 159, and Act 4, Scene 1 is on p. 160), in a black and gold painted wooden frame. Near fine, with light spotting, and discrete reinforcement to the top edge of p. 159. Overall, a lovely leaf from Shakespeare's classic comedy. This leaf is from the fourth and final Shakespeare folio, printed in 1685 (the first three were printed in 1623, 1632, and 1663), which further corrected and modernized the text, and was the basis for 18th century editions of Shakespeare's works by Nicholas Rowe and other important editors. The Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare's most famous comedies, tells the story of Antonio, a merchant who faces the extraction of a pound of his flesh at the hands of the moneylender Shylock after defaulting on a loan, only to be saved by his friend Bassanio and his wife, Portia, disguised as a male lawyer. Some of the events covered in this leaf are as follows: Portia tells Nerissa her plan for the two of them to disguise themselves as men and follow their husbands to Venice (Act 3, Scene 4), Launcelot the clown jokes with Jessica and Lorenzo (Act 3, Scene 5), and Shylock demands in court the his bond be fulfilled and he receive his pound of flesh from Antonio (Act 4, Scene 1). In the court scene, Shylock says: I have possessed your Grace of what I purpose, And by our holy Sabbath have I sworn To have the due and forfeit of my bond. If you deny it, let the danger light Upon your charter and your city's freedom! You'll ask me why I rather choose to have A weight of carrion flesh than to receive Three thousand ducats. I'll not answer that, But say it is my humor. Is it answered? (Folger Shakespeare Library) Interestingly, in this same scene, there is an exchange between Bassanio and Shylock, in which Bassanio asks "Do all men kill the thing they do not love?" to which Shylock replies "Hates any man the thing he would not kill?" In arguably the most famous line from Oscar Wilde's classic poem "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" (1898), Wilde inverts Bassanio's line, writing: "Yet each man kills the thing he loves." . Leaf. Near Fine.