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Shakespeare Materials

It would be interesting to know how much those who claim Shakespeare didn't write his own plays are motivated by jealousy. Many writers are jealous of ol' Billy—he's the one author universally recognized as the best ever. Most, however, rejoice that such literary magic was distilled for subsequent generations by an alchemist of less-than-noble origins and obscure life.

The idea that Shakespeare didn't write Shakespeare was around before the movie Anonymous. Critics point out that Willy Shakes knew a lot about the world for one who'd never left England (did he, though? he didn't know his geography very well), that he was well-versed in the ways of the English Court for a common man, or that an uneducated bumpkin from Stratford-upon-Avon couldn't produce a body of work that transcends the volumes of "superior" writers.

Shakespeare ended his days as a businessman in his hometown, away from the chaos, mud and spectacle of London. Is that how a great writer would end his days? What about the mystery of his handwriting? was he illiterate? if he could read and write, wouldn't there be more than a few signatures and some misspelled words? At first glance, the evidence seems compelling to attribute "Shakespeare's" work elsewhere, to the Earl of Oxford, Sir Francis Bacon, or some cadre of playwrights.

The reasons for finding another author for Shakespeare are more related to worldview than personal motives. Postmodernists like to obscure authorship in an effort to show that standards and absolutes are human constructs; modernists (and postmodernists) like to impose contemporary values on the past. The latter is a big motivating factor in the Shakespeare debate: Elizabethans had no concept of ownership when it came to texts, but most higher critics suppose they did.

There's no substantial reason to believe William Shakespeare was not the source of the plays attributed to him. What is absolutely certain is that no one before or since has so thoroughly captured the scope of the human predicament, or done so half as well as the Bard of Avon. His poetry lies between biblical oracle and Miltonian pedantry; his prose the most poetic lines penned by a seller of wheat (or a nobleman, for that matter).

Good literary education often begins with Shakespeare. A lot of it ends there, too. So much modern fiction is unreadable because writers don't look far enough back for inspiration; a few generations ago, writers read Homer, Milton, Shakespeare and Dickens. A noble company, ironically helmed by a commoner with less education than those who call themselves scholars in his name. We carry most of his plays, and a variety of resources to help you understand them. Remember that Shakespeare's plots are borrowed and recycled; it's the genius of expression that sets his work apart.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
 
There are many, many editions of Shakespeare's plays, and if they're beautiful and in good shape, we'll take almost any version that passes our desk, but there are only so many useful versions that are fairly readily available for study purposes. We wanted to give you a quick rundown on those we often offer.
 
  • Folger Library - Our favorite series to carry and the only one for which we offer ALL the plays, these books offer Shakespeare's text on one page, with definitions for difficult words on the facing page. Some people complain that the formatting is cramped, but that is certainly less the case in the trade paper versions, the only ones now in print.
  • Oxford School Library - These are very nice, spacious, good notes and occasionally illustrated with photographs from Shakespeare performances. Main issue with these is they are often not readily available.
  • Dover Thrift Editions - A decent cheaper option. The formatting is definitely more crampted than others and the notes are harder to read at the bottom of each page.
  • No Fear Shakespeare - This version offers the original text on one page and a modernized text on the facing page. Main complaint is that sexual passages are often more explicit than necessary in the retelling, so it's one we'd recommend avoiding for kids.
  • Barron's Shakespeare Made Easy - This version also offers the original text on one page and a modernized text on the facing page. Haven't heard the same complaint about explicit text in these.
  • Pelican Shakespeare - We haven't ordered these in a while, but these are well-crafted editions. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare’s time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Similar in price to the Folger, these feature artsy covers and take up less shelf space. 
  • Illustrated Shakespeare
  • Shakespeare Can Be Fun
 
 
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Which Shakespeare Play Should I See?
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53 Items found Print
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All the World's A Stage
by William Shakespeare
from Fulcrum Group
for 4th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$14.00 (1 in stock)
All the World's a Stage
by Rebecca Piatt Davidson, illustrated by Anita Lobel
from Greenwillow Books
for Preschool-2nd grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
As You Like It
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
from Gramercy Books
Comedy for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children
by E. Nesbit, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Racehorse for Young Readers
for 4th-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
$14.99
Bravo, Mr. William Shakespeare!
by Marcia Williams
from Candlewick Press
for 2nd-6th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Brush Up Your Shakespeare!
by Michael Macrone, illustrated by Tom Lulevitch
from Harper & Row
for 6th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Children's Shakespeare
by E. Nesbit
from Henry Altemus Company
for 4th-6th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Complete Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, edited by Howard Staunton, illustrated by Sir John Gilbert and Ray Abel
from Park Lane
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Complete Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, edited by G. B. Harrison
from Harcourt Brace Jovanich
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Complete Works of William Shakespeare - 2 Volumes
by William Shakespeare
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Favorite Tales from Shakespeare
by Charles & Mary Lamb, illustrated by Donald Lynch
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 2nd-6th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Globe Restored
by C. Walter Hodges
2nd edition, 1st American Edition from Coward McCann
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Hamlet
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by W. G. Simmonds
from Gramercy Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Henry IV Part I
by William Shakespeare, edited by Frederic W. Moorman
from D. C. Heath and Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Histories of Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, edited by Peter Alexander and illustrated by John Farleigh
from Heritage Press
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Illustrated Stories from Shakespeare
by Willam Shakespeare, retold by Rosie Dickens and illustrated by Christa Unzer
from Usborne
for 2nd-5th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Introduction to Shakespeare
by Marchette Chute
fifteenth printing from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Introduction to Shakespeare
by Marchette Chute
fifteenth printing from Scholastic Inc.
for 7th-10th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Merchant of Venice
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated in color by Sir James D. Linton and in b/w by Sir John Gilbert
from Gramercy Books
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Merchant of Venice
by William Shakespeare, Samuel Thurber, Jr. editor
1933 printing from Allyn and Bacon
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (2 in stock)
Merry Wives of Windsor
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Hugh Thomson
from Gramercy Books
for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Midsummer Night's Dream
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Arthur Rackham
from Gramercy Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Play's the Thing
by Ruth Turk
from Carolrhoda Books, Inc.
for 4th-6th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Poetry for Young People: William Shakespeare
Poetry for Young People
by William Shakespeare; David Scott Kastan, Marina Kastan, eds.
from Sterling Publishing Co.
for 3rd-6th grade
in Poetry for Children (Location: POET-CHIL)
Richard II
The Arden Shakespeare (Heath's English Classics)
by William Shakespeare, edited by C.H. Herford
from D. C. Heath and Company
for 10th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Romeo and Juliet
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by William Hatherell
from Avenel Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Shakespeare for Everyone: As You Like It
by Jennifer Mulherin
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Shakespeare for Everyone: Julius Caesar
Shakespeare for Everyone
by Jennifer Mulherin
from Peter Bedrick Books
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Shakespeare in His Time
by Ivor Brown
from Thomas Nelson Publishers
for 9th-Adult
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Shakespeare of London
by Marchette Chute
1st edition from E.P. Dutton & Co.
for 6th-12th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Shakespeare Stories
by Leon Garfield
from Houghton Mifflin
for 7th-12th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Shakespeare's England
by Louis B. Wright
from Harper & Row
for 3rd-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Shakespeare's Sonnets
by William Shakespeare
from Barnes & Noble
Lyrical Poetry for 9th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Shakespeare's Theatre
by C. Walter Hodges
4th Impression 1966 from Coward McCann
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Stage full of Shakespeare Stories
by William Shakespeare, Retold by Angela McAllister, Illustrated by Alice Lindstrom
from Quarto Knows
for 2nd-6th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Stories from Shakespeare
by Geraldine McCaughrean, illustrated by Antony Maitland
First Edition from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Stories from Shakespeare
by Retold by Nicola Baxter, Illustrated by Jenny Thorne
from Barnes & Noble
for 2nd-4th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
Stories from Shakespeare
by Marchette Chute
from World Publishing Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tales from Shakespeare
by Charles & Mary Lamb
from Nelson Doubleday, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in 18th Century Literature (Location: LIT5-18)
Tales from Shakespeare
Macmillan Classics
by Charles & Mary Lamb, illustrated by Richard Powers
from Macmillan
for 5th-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
Tales from Shakespeare
Calla Editions
by Charles Lamb, Mary Lamb
from Dover Publications
Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Tales from Shakespeare
by Charles & Mary Lamb, illustrated by Elizabeth Shippen Elliott
from Dilithium Press, Ltd.
Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade
Tales from Shakespeare
by Charles & Mary Lamb, Illustrated by Karel Svolinsky
from Hamlyn
for 5th-8th grade
in Classics Retold (Location: FIC-RET)
Tales from Shakespeare
by Tina Packer & Co.
from Scholastic Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Shakespeare Materials (Location: LIR-SHA)
$12.00 (1 in stock)
Tales from Shakespeare
Manhattan Young People's Library
by Charles & Mary Lamb, illustrated by Louis Rhead
from Gilbert H. McKibben
Shakespeare Stories for 3rd-8th grade
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$18.00 (1 in stock)
Taming of the Shrew
by William Shakespeare
from Grosset & Dunlap
for Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Tempest
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare
from Gramercy Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
Three Tragedies: Julius Caesar/Hamlet/ MacBeth
Great Illustrated Classics
by William Shakespeare
from Dodd, Mead & Co.
for 9th-Adult
in Vintage Fiction & Literature (Location: VIN-FIC)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Will Shakespeare and the Globe Theater
World Landmark #21
by Anne Terry White, illustrated by C. Walter Hodges
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in World Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAN)
William Shakespeare
by Iris Noble
from Julian Messner
for 4th-7th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
William Shakespeare's Star Wars Part the Fourth
William Shakespeare Star Wars #4
by Ian Doescher
Advance Reading Copy from Quirk Books
for 4th-10th grade
in Science Fiction (Location: FIC-SCI)
William Shakespeare: A Biography
by A. L. Rowse
First Ediition from Harper & Row
for Adult
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
$24.00 (1 in stock)
Winter's Tale
Illustrated Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare, illustrated by Maxwell Armfield
from Gramercy Books
for 10th-Adult
in Renaissance & Reformation Literature (Location: LIT3-REN)
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