Shakespeare does not simply deliver eternal truths from on high, despite being the most quoted poet in history. His writing is like one side in the best imaginable conversation. To access the riches in Shakespeare’s writing, readers, performers, and audiences need to bring their own experience and their own imaginations to bear, to converse with what they see and hear. The works then come alive, in different ways in different places and times, but always with the potential for astonishing creativity.’ – Introduction by John Lotherington
Now, clearly, I’m not going to sit down and read this book from cover to cover and review it in the usual way. This is more of a dip in and dip out kind of book, so I thought I’d just tell you all about the edition itself, just in case you were thinking about acquiring a collection of Shakespeare for yourself or to give as a literary gift. I highly recommend this one from an aesthetic point of view. And besides, Shakespeare is above review – his work speaks for itself.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare is an elegant edition boasting the entire credited catalogue of William Shakespeare including 16 comedies, 10 histories, 12 tragedies, as well as all of his poems and sonnets.

Be still my beating heart. This book is indeed beautiful, but even better, it has all of Shakespeare’s work, and while it’s far from compact and not even a little bit portable, it has presence: a stately hardcover, elegant end papers, and a thick ribbon bookmark (trust me – these things matter to a book collector). The text is presented in the traditional two column
format which appeals to the traditionalist in me. There’s a short introduction at the front and a short life and times of Shakespeare at the back, but other than this, it’s all Sha…