There is a full page dedication to "Mona" written and signed in pencil by Oliver Messel. The dedication refers to the Christmas Gift conception of this publication: see photo.


NOTES ON CONDITION
Spine bumped and faded + tear in cloth at bottom of the spine
3 of the tipped in plates have been re-glued into the book resulting in waves on the illustration (where glued)

To preserve the quality of the work, only a small edition of the book is being printed, and this is likely to soon by exhausted, forming as it does an ideal Christmas gift to any lover of the stage and Shakespeare and to anyone interested in a sympathetic interpretation by one of England's most brilliant designers.' (from the publisher's prospectus).In 1936 Oliver Messel designed the set and costumes for the film of Romeo and Juliet produced by MGM in Hollywood. The film was directed by George Cukor and starred Norma Shearer (to whom the book is dedicated) and Leslie Howard. This charming edition of the play was published as a souvenir of Messel's work on the film. Shakespeare's text is accompanied by high-quality reproductions of the original set and costume drawings created by Messel.


Colour frontispiece and 7 similar plates mounted on captioned grey card leaves, 31 half-tone plates, all after Oliver Messel, title page printed in black and blue with colour vignette and typographic border, decorative initials printed in blue, head-piece of fleurons to each Act, Messel's facsmile signature to dedication page. First and sole edition thus, inscribed on the front free endpaper "Darling Mona ......
Love Oliver 1936" See Photo for Complete dedication message.