Shakespeare Books

That Crusoe would have so matured and improved with age having been stuck on an island for most of his life? Life begins at sixty for Robinson Crusoe. Friday is dead in Robinson Crusoe though, so the blurb is wrong.

This smart, amazingly well-researched and groundbreaking study on the literature of sodomy and male love in the 17th Century is written in jargon-free language and is utterly convincing. That's probably because Mr. Hammond doesn't try to overinterpret the evidence he has available (and it is quite alot) but leaves room for doubt and variable readings. This restraint (so rare in gay studies...believe me, I know) makes his book stand out in the field, that and the fact that he has unearthed a treasure trove of literature either unknown or known only to a few specialists. His facts are fascinating, his style engaging. Future research in the history of sexual writing will have to take his work into consideration. Bravo, Mr. Hammond!

Alfred Hitchcock wrote to the author about the first edition (1976) of this book: "I...find it extremely clever in the analyses of the filmmaker and the audience."

The following abstract appeared on p. 304 of the February 1977 issue of Psychological Abstracts published by the American Psychological Association: "Presents a theory of audience reaction to film and the psychological processes which make screen events look like real happenings. Definitions of suspense and views of how it is generated are also examined."

Charles Derry who devoted almost a whole chapter to this book in his 1951 book The Suspense Thriller: Films in the Shadow of Alfred Hitchcock wrote: "Because this fascinating book is almost impossible to obtain, I will take this opportunity to outline Loker's rather complex position in some detail."

Written by actress, writer, and teacher Beth Kaplan, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare: The Life and Legacy of Jacob Gordin is the biography of her great-grandfather, playwright extraordinaire Jacob Gordin. Chapters recount Gordin's emigration from Russia to America, the Golden Age and the colorful characters of Yiddish theater from 1891 to 1910, the birth of Gordin's outstanding masterworks such as "Mirele Efros" and "The Jewish King Lear", and much more. An especial treat for theater history buffs, Finding the Jewish Shakespeare is rich with nuanced detail. A bibliography, index, and partial list of Gordin's plays with original titles round out this enduring tribute to a gifted playwright.

This booklet was produced to accompany an exhibit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC in 1991. The author, Peter W. M. Blayney, is one of the leading experts on printing in Shakespeare's time and approaches this subject, the 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare's plays, with perhaps unparalleled authority. Blayney wrote an astoundingly detailed study of the first printing of King Lear (1608), and also wrote the new introduction to the revised Norton facsimile edition of the First Folio edited by Charlton Hinman. In this exhibit Blayney used the Folger collection of about 80 copies of the First Folio, approximately one-third of all known copies, to illustrate the trade of book making in early 17th century London and to demonstrate the advantages of having so many copies of a much sought-after book in one collection. In addition to 13 complete copies of the First Folio, the Folger collection includes copies that are missing pages, usually at the front or back--books were typically sold without covers and purchasers then took them to a binder if they could afford the expense and thought it worthwhile (plays were less well regarded at the time than, say, sermons). The collection also includes a number of loose pages from copies that were cannibalized for pages missing from other copies. A few pages in the collection contain editorial marks by print shop proof-readers.

This catalogue describes Henry Folger's collecting and his conviction that multiple copies would yield insights into printing practices of Shakespeare's time as well as evidence that might help scholars get closer to the original words Shakespeare wrote. The First Folio is the sole authority for half of Shakespeare's plays. Blayney's catalogue runs to 46 pages with text aimed at the general educated reader and many illustrations showing how scholars use forensic evidence to reconstruct the making of this most famous of English books after the 1611 King James Bible. Blayney recounts the progress of scholars in determining how many compositors (type-setters) worked on the large book (each page measured approximately 9 x 14 inches before binding and trimming); what degree of proof-reading was done; how the printer's type was "composed" on a stick by hand choosing letters from the upper and lower type cases to spell out, one letter at a time, the words in whatever copy, whether print or manuscript, was in front of them; and the resulting problems of typos, misreadings, and missing words and lines that have bedeviled Shakespeare's editors ever since.

Blayney also explains how printers worked at the time, often interrupting work on one book to do more routine presswork like circulars, proclamations, and forms for customers. Scholars like Blayney have learned by examining copies of books for damaged letters and printer's ornaments that the print shop that produced the First Folio worked on other books during the same period it was printing the First Folio. Occasionally the type-setters over- or under-estimated the amount of space a section of one of the plays would occupy when set in print, resulting in more or less "white space" on a page and some incredibly crowded pages of print. Blayney's text and illustrations make these points about the practical challenges of the printing business extremely well. This book is well worth acquiring if you are interested in how we got the text of Shakespeare plays that are now found everywhere and are translated into many other languages around the world. Although Amazon.com is sometimes out of stock on this book, you can order it directly from the Folger Shakespeare Library website at the list price plus postage and handling.

The First Folio of 1623, our most important single source for Shakespeare's plays, is now available in this attractive volume at a price that individuals can afford. Doug Moston has written a fine and informative introduction to this reprint, mainly from the vantage point of the needs of today's actors. But scholars and Shakespeare lovers will want to have this book, too, since the First Folio is of major importance for the establishment of Shakespeare's texts, and for checking the conjectures of generations of editors who have tried to "fix" readings in the text that they thought were misprints. This is an essential reference and a fun book to browse, too

An excellent collection of Shakespeare's works, this book holds the bard's works as they were first printed in the first folio. In edition to keeping (in my opinion) the purest and best form of his work available in this edition, it includes lovely illustrations and prints throughout, adding to the already beautiful text. This Collected Work is something any Shakespeare lover (or a lover of drama or poetry) would be delighted to own.

I recently purchased this book, and can highly recommend it. I particularly enjoy it for traveling entertainment, because I can usually complete the puzzles without aid from a crossword puzzle dictionary, or help from the internet. That makes this ideal for keeping my load light! There are two sized puzzles in this book: 15 squares to the side (the size of a daily crossword in the newspaper) and 17 squares to the side (a little more challenging). The puzzles aren't too easy, but they aren't so difficult that they're frustrating--just hard enough to keep one interested!

Coriolanus does not want to seek votes just because he was wounded fighting for his country. Men agreed Coriolanus is too noble for this world. His nature mars his fortune. He has an angry tongue. Coriolanus is told he is too absolute. He is to be banished. Some of the officials consider him a traitor. When Coriolanus dies saving Rome, he dies a victim of pride.

This Shakespearean drama is surprisingly unbright, dull. Since it is Shakespeare, it is still better than almost anything else.

As a professional actor and member of a renowned Shakespearian acting company in California, this book was referred to me, by chance, by a non-theatrically professional British lady who sits in front of me at the church I attend. She lent me a copy and I've been scarce able to put it down since.

Unlike many of the "heady" treatises on "The Bard," this one makes no dydactic presumptions about the poet, especially about the unknown nine years of his life. Instead it sites other well known Shakespearian scholars guesses about this period, all fascinating and some more reasonable than others, then suggests the pros and cons of each one's argument, leaving it to the reader to deduce what he/she will.
By no means is this book limited to Will's unknown period. Its use of passages from Shakespeare's plays and other writings are offered as clues to what this fellow was all about. His marriage, his love, not generally believed to be the same are handled with intrigue! The entire book is reasonably founded, clear, and, above all, entertaining and compelling.
Some familiarity with the plays of Shakespeare will greatly enhance the enjoyment of the reader but such is not entirely necessary. In fact, the reading of this book may compel many to want to become more familiar with Shakespeare, much as the movie "Shakespeare in Love" did.

Martin Clark