The Portable Shakespeare

by William Shakespeare

This is the book-lover's Shakespeare, a convenient little volume, for reading and rereading--a book you will always want within easy reach. The Portable Shakespeare contains the brightest gems from the Shakespearean treasury, including seven favourite plays complete: Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night's Dream, As You Like It, and The Tempest; memorable passages from the other plays; all the sonnets and all the songs; and a key-word index to one thousand Shakespeare quotations.
--back cover

The Brightest Gems from the Shakespearean Treasury Including . . .

Seven Complete Plays
- Hamlet
- Macbeth
- Romeo and Juliet
- Julius Caesar
- A Midsummer Night's Dream
- As You Like It
- The Tempest

Selections from Other Plays
- The Merchant of Venice
- Othello
- Twelfth Night
- The Taming of the Shrew
- King Lear
- Two Gentleman of Verona
- Measure for Measure
- Much Ado About Nothing
- Love's Labor's Lost
- All's Well That Ends Well
- The Winter's Tale
- King John
- Richard the Second
- The Merry Wives of Windsor
- The First Part of King Henry the Fourth
- The Second Part of King Henry the Fourth
- King Henry the Fifth
- Henry the Sixth Part One
- Henry the Sixth Part Two
- Henry the Sixth Part Three
- Richard the Third
- King Henry the Eighth
- Troilus and Cressida
- Coriolanus
- Antony and Cleopatra

Songs from the plays

Sonnets

Keyword Index to One Thousand Shakespeare Quotations.

Genres: Classics, Plays, Poetry, Shakespeare, Literature, Fiction

792 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1944

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

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The real selling point for this volume is that "portable" in the title. In one paperback, you get Julius Caesar, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth, Hamlet, A Midsummer's Night Dream, As You Like It, The Tempest, selections from a number of other plays, and every sonnet. There is no commentary, however, so it's probably not a good choice for readers who are new to Shakespeare.

[K Todd Ramer · Rating 5 out of 5]

My most prized possession. Have owned my copy for nearly 23 years.