The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare: The Complete Works Annotated

by William Shakespeare

English literature.

Genres: Classics, Poetry

2364 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

William Shakespeare was an English playwright, poet, and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon" (or simply "the Bard"). His extant works, including collaborations, consist of some 39 plays, 154 sonnets, three long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright. Shakespeare remains arguably the most influential writer in the English language, and his works continue to be studied and reinterpreted.
Shakespeare was born and raised in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children: Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer, and part-owner ("sharer") of a playing company called the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men after the ascension of King James VI and I of Scotland to the English throne. At age 49 (around 1613), he appears to have retired to Stratford, where he died three years later. Few records of Shakespeare's private life survive; this has stimulated considerable speculation about such matters as his physical appearance, his sexuality, his religious beliefs, and even certain fringe theories as to whether the works attributed to him were written by others.
Shakespeare produced most of his known works between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories and are regarded as some of the best works produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until 1608, among them Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth, all considered to be among the finest works in the English language. In the last phase of his life, he wrote tragicomedies (also known as romances) and collaborated with other playwrights.
Many of Shakespeare's plays were published in editions of varying quality and accuracy during his lifetime. However, in 1623, John Heminge and Henry Condell, two fellow actors and friends of Shakespeare's, published a more definitive text known as the First Folio, a posthumous collected edition of Shakespeare's dramatic works that includes 36 of his plays. Its Preface was a prescient poem by Ben Jonson, a former rival of Shakespeare, that hailed Shakespeare with the now famous epithet: "not of an age, but for all time".

Reviews

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Chase got a copy of this book, I couldn't wait to have my own copy. Every play is illustrated in beautiful pen and ink drawings along with the title of the play. There are many other beautiful illustrations as well.
We copied all the titled drawings onto parchment, framed them on colored cardstock, put them up on the walls for school and used these to memorize all his plays. When my father first saw these on our wall he was so impressed he took several photos of the wall.
Since then I have bought a few copies every time I see them at a thrift store. Every home should have at least one of these!

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

As always, shakespeare never fails to let me down. I was so happy to find this book at a yard sale . The illustrations are amazing prints and will truly blow you away. The only thing that some what bothered me was the annotations at the bottom of each page. They do however help you to understand the adaptations made