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.
Synopsis
Are you studying Shakespeare and looking for a handy summary of plots, characters and interpretations? Or are you a keen theatregoer wanting essential background on the Shakespeare plays you see on stage? Ideal for students and theatre enthusiasts alike, this lively and authoritative guide presents key information, clearly set out, on all Shakespeare's dramatic and poetic works, covering plots and people, sources, context, performance history and major themes. Ordered alphabetically for easy reference, each play entry features a 'key facts' box providing informative and revealing statistics, including a breakdown of each play's major roles. The guide is illustrated with striking performance photographs throughout, and also provides brief accounts of Shakespeare's life and language, Shakespeare in print and theatre in Shakespeare's time. This is an indispensable reference source for all students and theatregoers.
Synopsis
"Emma Smith's Cambridge Shakespeare Guide is not gives the student or theatregoer a quick fix on the plot, characters and basic facts about each play (or poem); but the book is also a marvel of critical conciseness. So the reader turns to an entry to find out when a particular play was first performed, or what proportion of it is written in verse, or who Borachio or Thersites is...and then finds herself immersed in a subtle yet brief account of the play's themes and famous performers."
--Sarah Stanton, Cambridge University Press Editor
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.