Synopses & Reviews
Shakespeare is synonymous with English literature. Well-loved the world over, his work endures for its ability to speak powerfully to the follies and foibles of human nature. We endlessly debate not only the finer points of each of his plays and sonnets but also the identity of the Bard himself. Yet no fanfare surrounded the initial publication of Shakespeareandrsquo;s
First Folioandmdash;no queue of eager readers, no launch to the top of the best seller list. It wasnandrsquo;t until four hundred years after Shakespeareandrsquo;s death that the book would be the subject of a national book tour.
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The Making of Shakespeareandrsquo;s First Folio offers the first comprehensive biography of the earliest collected edition of Shakespeareandrsquo;s plays. In November 1623, the book arrived in the bookshop of the London publisher Edward Blount at the Black Bear. Long in the making, Master William Shakespeareandrsquo;s Comedies, Histories, and Tragediesandmdash;as the First Folio was then knownandmdash;appeared seven years after Shakespeareandrsquo;s death. Nearly one thousand pages in length, the collection comprised thirty-six plays, half of which had never been previously published. Emma Smith tells the story of the First Folioandrsquo;s origins, locating it within the social and political context of Jacobean London and bringing in the latest scholarship on the seventeenth-century book trade.
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Extensively illustrated, The Making of Shakespeareandrsquo;s First Folio is a landmark addition to the copious literature on Shakespeare. It will shed much-needed light on the birth of the First Folioandmdash;of which fewer than 250 copies remainandmdash;and the birth of Shakespeareandrsquo;s towering reputation.
Review
"...a valuable addition to a useful series." Shakespeare Quarterly
Synopsis
A thorough account of its performance history including introduction, full text of play and footnotes.
Synopsis
This is the first stage history of Shakespeare's King Henry V to cover the play's theatrical life since 1599. Staging this play is a political act, and the substantial Introduction traces its theatrical interventions into conflicts from the Napoleonic Wars to Vietnam and the Falklands. The stage and film history raises interpretative questions--is Henry V an epic of English nationalism, a knowing and cynical piece of power politics, or an anti-war manifesto? The volume also includes the play text, illustrations and detailed footnotes about major performances.
About the Author
Emma Smith is a fellow in English at Hertford College, University of Oxford. She is the author of several books, including, most recently, The Cambridge Shakespeare Guide and The Cambridge Companion to English Renaissance Tragedy.
Table of Contents
List of illustrations; Series editors' preface; List of abbreviations; Select chronology of English-language performances; Introduction; King Henry V and commentary; Index.