The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, 2nd Edition by William Shakespeare (PDF)

Description

Hailed by The Washington Post as “a definitive synthesis of the best editions” and by The Times of London as “a monument to Shakespearean scholarship,” The Oxford Shakespeare is the ultimate anthology of the Bard’s work: the most authoritative edition of the plays and poems ever published. Now, almost two decades after the original volume, Oxford is proud to announce a thoroughly updated second edition, including for the first time the texts of The Reign of Edward III and Sir Thomas More, recognizing these two plays officially as authentic works by Shakespeare. This beautiful collection is the product of years of full-time research by a team of British and American scholars and represents the most thorough examination ever undertaken of the nature and authority of Shakespeare’s work. The editors reconsidered every detail of the text in the light of modern scholarship and they thoroughly re-examined the earliest printed versions of the plays, firmly establishing the canon and chronological order of composition. All stage directions have been reconsidered in light of original staging, and many new directions for essential action have been added. This superb volume also features a brief introduction to each work as well as an illuminating General Introduction. Finally, theeditors have added a wealth of secondary material, including an essay on language, a list of contemporary allusions to Shakespeare, an index of Shakespearean characters, a glossary, a consolidated bibliography, and an index of first lines of the Sonnets. Compiled by the world’s leading authorities, packed with information, and attractively designed, The Oxford Shakespeare is the gold standard of Shakespearean anthologies.

User’s Reviews

Opiniones editoriales Review “State-of-the-art scholarship has come to stand as the edition of record of Shakespeare’s poems and plays.”San Diego Union-Tribune”Includes stage directions, introductions, and a trove of other scholarly goodies. A beauty.”Library Journal (starred review) About the Author Stanley Wells is Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham, the Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Vice-Chairman of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. Gary Taylor is Professor in the English Department at the University of Alabama. John Jowett is Associate General Editor of the Oxford Collected Works of Thomas Middleton and co-author of Shakespeare Reshaped 1606-23. William Montgomery works for the Guardian newspaper.

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I fell for the Oxford edition and like the speaker of the Sonnets relative to the Dark Lady, I was blind to its defects too long.I bought two copies in 2005 when I was “rich” owing to the financial boom: the paperback for my teaching to be used in class, and the hardbound for my home study. I could see how relatively flimsy they are, for Oxford has long compensated for the flimsiness of its books with the prestige of its name, and the genuine scholarship it’s put into editing. Oxford offered successively higher priced editions of its standards at the turn of the last century, from a flimsy blue buckram with India (very thin) paper to higher-priced editions in “Moroccan” leather, sporting gold leaf and more durable paper.Sure enough, the paperback King Lear disintegrated after being repeatedly copied and passed around, but not so much that I wasn’t able to rescue the text of each play and staple it into a separate, handy little “Quarto” suitable for copying under “fair use” for students, and as an actor’s prompt book.But while the hardbound endured at my home, I am now re-reading all of Shakespeare having read his complete works in 1962 as a lad of 12. I have Stage IV/D1 prostate cancer and the opportunity to live in a hospice style facility awaiting results from chemotherapy, and re-read Shakespeare in the light of modern scholarship, notably, the two versions of Lear (1608 in Quarto, 1623 in the Folio).This has exposed the relative and understandable flimsiness of the hardbound. It was made to be taken from the shelf and read at the desk. It can survive a Churchill chuckling and dozing over Falstaff and Timon of Athens in an easy chair with a cigar and whisky soda.But in a hospital room while I have my lunch is problematic for the book is being deformed past the limits set by its binders as it is distended in my bed, and I find that even small drops of food can remove the print from the opposite page when the pages are separated (I have no data as to the sticking-together action of another substance called “baby batter” but I imagine it isn’t good.)Another problem is what I consider the “vanity”, or perhaps self-filfilling, admission of a new play, Edward III, which may include passages by Shakespeare, but in which S, perhaps burned out at the time of Edward III on “history” plays, and not noted in what we know as exceptionally willing to put his nose to the grindstone, simply did not take an interest in the architecture of this history play.All the other history plays except for in part King John, Richard II and All Is True (Henry VIII), that is, the “core” plays from Henry IV Part 1 to Richard III, are layered pictures of England in the 15th century. In the “Henrician trilogy” S cannot resist all sorts of clever scenes, such as the Cade rebellion, Pucelle’s nonsense, and Talbot v Mad Duchess and Crazed Dwarf.This is under better control in Richard III but only because the main character was an unusually dastardly person and therefore, given audience’s eternal fascination with dastardly individuals, Richard can fill out the play in a way the non-dastardly Edward II could not. When Edward III goes at the Countess of Salisbury with wicked intent, the audience cheers him on, for wicked intent is theatrical, allowing the audience vicarious Thrills. But when Edward III stands down, wishing to be a virtuous ruler, we approve of this while stifling a yawn.This is just a mediaeval miniature snookered from Froissart. I fear that even at the zenith of their profession there was pressure – whether internal or external I don’t know, to “discover” Edward III as a “Shakespeare” play even though it has lain, like Poe’s Purloined Letter, in plain view for many years.Missing, or pressured out of Wells and Taylor in academic science worship of atomic facts, and a concomitant over-rating of details. A “Shakespeare” play “must” contain the diversity of incident and depth of characterization we associate with Shakespeare otherwise it “must” by critical consensus anyway, be relegated with the numerous times we know Shakespeare was a “script doctor”, always ready to help stuck authors with a script.Edward III is archtecturally tight as a drum but its chivalric military ethic is unrelieved by Shakespeare’s questioning, thru Hotspur’s psychotic exaggeration of the chivalric ideal (plucking bright honor out of the sea by her locks, etc.) thru its very absurdity and the effect it has on his wife. Or, for that matter, by Falstaff’s speech on “Honour”, Shakespeare’s and Falstaff’s obvious disgust with Prince John’s dishonorable if bloodless victory in Henry IV Part 2. It’s also hard to believe that Shakespeare’s colleagues, or, the Master of the Revels, would have been able to “gag” Shakespeare on the issues raised in the canonical History plays given the success of his plays and the fact that questioning the chivalric ideal was no big deal, as far as we know, and that it was a frequent source of comedy, culminating, probably, in the “lost” play Cardenio.The fault of treating Edward III as canonical, however, is redeemed elsewhere, for following modern practice found in the Norton edition, Wells and Taylor include two version of King Lear, The History of King Lear and his History.Two polished versions of Lear exist. One came out in Quarto form in 1608 and featured a bit more excitement than the very different Folio version. The Quarto version features very interesting development of the character Albany until it is he, and not Edgar, who emerges as the natural leader of the end of the play, delivering the last and solemn lines:The weight of this sad time we must obey;Speak what we feel, not what we ought to say.The oldest hath borne most: we that are youngShall never see so much, nor live so long.The Quarto version has also a more interesting revolt of Cornwall’s servants and some Elizabethan tips on what to do for a gouged eye. Its scenes of reconciliation between Lear and Cordelia are a little more elaborate and plangent and were used in the definitive BBC version of Lear on video tape (and DVD now).But both are rewarding in their own way and both should be read to say “I have read King Lear”.I am compelled to award this book a “four” because of its physical flimsiness as a paperback and the Edward III “canonization”.I gave this book to my granddaughter for her 16th birthday. She was very excited to get it. It was the perfect gift for her. Beautiful as well.I have not seen the Kindle edition that many of the reviewers here disapprove of, but the hardback edition is first-rate. The paper quality is good (not onionskin), the text font is easily legible, the characters’ names are fully spelled out each time they are used (no “Ham.” for “Hamlet” or “Per.” for “Pericles”), the feel of the book is substantial. And the price is excellent. If you are looking for a complete works of Shakespeare that you can delight in and lose yourself in, this is the one to add to your basket–durable, legible, well made, and one of the crown jewels of stage and life.This book is such amazing quality! The print on it isn’t perfect but it’s more than good enough to read clearly. The cover feels great! Feels like a fancy expensive book but it’s only $20. All I can say is get it!!!! You will not regret!!! On top of that, you’ll fall in love with the art of literature through the works of the wonderful William Shakespeare!This is a review of the leather-bound version only. I don’t know anything about the kindle version.I was aware that I was getting a used version, but the one I got was still disappointing. The cover isn’t real leather and isn’t bound very well, so it probably won’t have a long lifespan. The cover is a cheap plastic over what feels like plush beneath, so it’s squishy and not durable at all.The copy I got had a split all the way down one side of the cover at the back corner. Additionally, the pages feel thin and cheap.In short, I would recommend paying an extra $10 or so for a better version, unless you only want it for one-time use.I have loved Shakespeare since high school. My teacher had a passion for his works and it rubbed off on more than one of her students in the classes that she taught. After I graduated college and was on my own I purchased a complete collection and read all of works. The printing in the two volume collection was extremely small but it didn’t stop me. Over the years the books were placed in storage and, unfortunately, destroyed due to a leak in the roof. I was thrilled when I was able to replace it with this set. Now I can re-read his works and adjust the size of the print so that my much older eyes don’t have to squint to enjoy the words of the master.This volume replaced an old, poorly formatted collection of Shakespeare that I made do with for years. I’m really enjoying the commentary in this Oxford edition, and the formatting is so much better.The bound edition is quite nice. The kindle version seems to be from Gutenberg org and is not the best version. Four for the contents, and deduct 1 for terrible formatting. There must be a kindle version that looks better and has at least some footnotes. Unfortunately I cant afford the Oxford version of this “collected works”; still it was only 99cents , so I guess it was almost to be expected. I wish they would indicate if it comes from Gutenberg.Great book, lovely Oxford strong but flexible binding, and clear font on nice paper – with a price which makes going for cheap photo facsimile editions etc. just not worth it. It’s of course quite heavy (physically) if you want to read in bed…I just downloaded this onto my Kindle but alas, I’m quite disappointed. I haven’t done enough research to know for sure if this is the best option, but it’s not a great option.There is no index, no table of contents. It’s starts with The Sonnets, which are just spewed out without being numbered, and all you can do is go back or forward. I tried to search for ‘Anthony’ in order to find Anthony and Cleopatra but it informed me it hadn’t been indexed. So this is essentially useless as I am not going to scroll through the entire works of Shakespeare. I bought it to have it on my Kindle for reference in addition to a copy at home. I will be seeking a refund as I cant understand how this is remotely usable.Fantastic value for a huge book, nicely illustrated and printed.This is definitely a coffee table tome but a really beautiful addition to the library.I couldn’t have wanted for a better Complete Works, since this is not too big, the pages pretty thick compared to most other versions and are lovely, smooth and white, and the text is clear and not too small. Of course the book is going to be pretty heavy due to its nature, and the print isn’t going to be as big as an ordinary book, but for what it is I think this is the best edition I have found. The text is very black and so you can see it from the page before coming through the paper, but it is minimal in my opinion, has never obstructed my reading and is a lot better than all the other versions I have seen. I do recommend this book very much. It is a good quality hardback at a fairly decent price.Dickens, Tolstoy, Dostoevsky, Hardy,Lawrence, Hemingway and Steinbeck, et al:: all available free (or so cheap as makes no difference). Yet children and adults who never attained maturity, remain addicted to, and impoverished by, their spiteful lanterns. How will history ever justify this in the evolution and ascent of Man?

⭐

Keywords

Free Download The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, 2nd Edition in PDF format
The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, 2nd Edition PDF Free Download
Download The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, 2nd Edition 2005 PDF Free
The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, 2nd Edition 2005 PDF Free Download
Download The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, 2nd Edition PDF
Free Download Ebook The Oxford Shakespeare: The Complete Works, 2nd Edition