= A magnificent copy with a wonderful harmony in text, illustration, type, binding and condition, with no wear or foxing. "The creation of their magnificent Hamlet, [has] long been regarded as a milestone in twentieth-century private printing" (Brinks, p.128). Brinks 76 and passim; Sarkowski 1585.

Probably the most elaborate work produced by the Cranach Press of Harry Graf Kessler and bringing together the great names of the time in English and German private printing artistry. The text uses the 'Hamlet type', the press's third original typeface, which Edward Johnston had created on Kessler's commission based on a Fust and Schoffer print from 1472. Kessler had Shakespeare's dramatic text, with Hauptmann's additions, set as the main text and surrounded by commentary texts, dealing with Shakespeare's sources Saxo Grammaticus and Belleforest in Latin and French. The incorporation of Craig's woodcuts, which often consisted of several parts and were printed in multiple shades of black using a special process, also proved complicated.

Alongside Virgil's 'Eclogues', Shakespeare's Hamlet is regarded as a high point of German letterpress printing, 'so significant that they are unsurpassed by anything in our age of printing' (Schauer I, 90).

"Arguably the greatest book of the Cranach Press" and "The Cranach Press Hamlet is a significant example of an artist's book, for the images are not mere illustrations of the text, but interpret that text. (...) Craig's wood engravings challenge the spectator: they are unconventional, unexpected and and multi-layered with many undefined significances capable of a wealth of meanings. (...) In the conception, execution and placing of his engravings the artist displays a fertile inventiveness - their rich diversity and unpredictability transform the book in a living organism. (...) Kessler gave the artist free rein and through his unfailing support enabled Craig to produce this tangible and lasting proof of his luxuriant imagination" (Brinks).

"This is one of the most ambitious and successful books of the Cranach Press, with a fine harmony between the type page and the illustration" (The Artist and the Book, p. 52).

"I must tell you at once how magnificent I think the Hamlet. It is one of the great books; a triumph for all 3 of you, certainly Craig's masterpiece as an artist, & yrs as printer; to my mind easily the most important book since Morris' Chaucer." (Brinks citing artist William Rothenstein in a letter to Kessler).