The Royal Windsor Edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare

The ''Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' is the standard name given to any volume containing all the plays and poems of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) 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 nation ...

. Some editions include several works that were not completely of Shakespeare's authorship (collaborative writings), such as '' The Two Noble Kinsmen'', which was a collaboration with John Fletcher; '' Pericles, Prince of Tyre'', the first two acts of which are likely to have been written by George Wilkins; or '' Edward III'', whose authorship is disputed.

Plays

These plays are generally classed into 3 main categories: histories, tragedies and comedies. ;Comedies: * '' All's Well That Ends Well'' * '' As You Like It'' * '' The Comedy of Errors'' * '' Cymbeline'' * '' Love's Labour's Lost'' * ''

Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604. It was published in the First Folio of 1623. The play centers on the despotic and puritan Angelo (Measure for ...

'' * '' The Merry Wives of Windsor'' * '' The Merchant of Venice'' * '' A Midsummer Night's Dream'' * '' Much Ado About Nothing'' * '' Pericles, Prince of Tyre'' * '' The Taming of the Shrew'' * ''

The Tempest ''The Tempest'' is a Shakespeare's plays, play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1610–1611, and thought to be one of the last plays that he wrote alone. After the first scene, which takes place on a ship at sea during a tempest, th ...

'' * '' Troilus and Cressida'' * '' Twelfth Night'' * '' The Two Gentlemen of Verona'' * '' The Two Noble Kinsmen'' * '' The Winter's Tale'' ;Histories: * '' King John'' * '' Richard II'' * ''

Henry IV, Part 1 ''Henry IV, Part 1'' (often written as ''1 Henry IV'') is a history play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written no later than 1597. The play dramatises part of the reign of King Henry IV of England, beginning with the Battle of H ...

'' * '' Henry IV, Part 2'' * '' Henry V'' * '' Henry VI, Part 1'' * '' Henry VI, Part 2'' * ''

Henry VI, Part 3 ''Henry VI, Part 3'' (often written as ''3 Henry VI'') is a Shakespearean history, history play by William Shakespeare believed to have been written in 1591 and set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England. Whereas ''Henry VI, Part 1, ...

'' * ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 1452 – 22 August 1485) was King of England from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the Plantagenet dynasty and its cadet branch the House of York. His defeat and death at the Battle of Boswor ...

'' * '' Henry VIII'' * '' Edward III'' ;Tragedies: * '' Coriolanus'' * '' Titus Andronicus'' * ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' * '' Timon of Athens'' * ''

Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...

'' * ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'' * ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' * ''

King Lear ''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...

'' * '' Othello'' * '' Antony and Cleopatra''

Selected editions

The various editions of the ''Complete Works'' include a number of

university press A university press is an academic publishing house specializing in monographs and scholarly journals. They are often an integral component of a large research university. They publish work that has been reviewed by scholars in the field. They pro ...

releases, as well as versions released from larger publishing companies. The ''Complete Works'' (especially in older editions) are often sought after by book collectors, and a number of binderies and publishing houses have produced leather bound and gilded releases for luxury

book collecting Book collecting is the collecting of books, including seeking, locating, acquiring, organizing, cataloging, displaying, storing, and maintaining whatever books are of interest to a given collector. The love of books is ''bibliophilia'', and someo ...

. Both mainstream and academic publishing companies have released multiple editions and versions of their own collections of Shakespeare's work, often updated periodically. Multiple editors contribute to the processes of laying out the ''Complete Works'', and many times either the main editor, publishing company, or university's name is included in the title. (For instance, the ''Complete Works'' published by the Arden company is often referred to as the ''Arden Shakespeare'', and the edition produced by

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

called the ''Yale Shakespeare''.)

Published editions

* Arden – ''The Complete Works (Arden Shakespeare)'', ''The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works'' (" Arden Shakespeare") * Black Dog & Leventhal – ''William Shakespeare: The Complete Works'' (4 vol.) * CRW Publishing Ltd. – ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' * Gramercy – ''William Shakespeare: The Complete Works'', ''William Shakespeare: The Complete Works eluxe Edition', ''The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare: Complete Works'', ''The Globe Illustrated Shakespeare: The Complete Works Annotated'' *

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the "Big Five (publishers), Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group USA, Hachette, Macmi ...

– ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: The Alexander Text'', ''Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' (Ed. 1–4) * Kittredge Shakespeare, ''The Complete Works of Shakespeare, edited by George Lyman Kittredge, Ginn & Co. 1936 (revised by Irving Ribner and reissued 1971) *

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publisher, publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, which is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman ...

– ''The Complete Works of Shakespeare'' (Ed. 1–7) *

Modern Library The Modern Library is an American book publishing Imprint (trade name), imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Moder ...

– ''William Shakespeare: Complete Works'' *

Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...

– '' The RSC Shakespeare: The Complete Works'' *

Penguin Books Penguin Books Limited is a Germany, German-owned English publishing, publishing house. It was co-founded in 1935 by Allen Lane with his brothers Richard and John, as a line of the publishers the Bodley Head, only becoming a separate company the ...

– ''World of Shakespeare: The Complete Plays and Sonnets of William Shakespeare (38 Volume Library)'' (38 vol.) ** Penguin Classics – ''The Complete Pelican Shakespeare'' * Riverside – ''The Riverside Shakespeare'' (Ed. 1–2) (" Riverside Shakespeare") * Wordsworth Editions Ltd. – ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare'', ''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' pecial/Royals ''The Complete Works of Shakespeare'' hildren's Classics ''Complete Works of William Shakespeare'' (3 vol.)

Academic editions

* '' The Cambridge Shakespeare'' (

Cambridge University Press Cambridge University Press was the university press of the University of Cambridge. Granted a letters patent by King Henry VIII in 1534, it was the oldest university press in the world. Cambridge University Press merged with Cambridge Assessme ...

, Doubleday, Garden City,

Houghton Mifflin The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as ...

, Octopus Books, RH Value) * '' The Oxford Shakespeare'' * ''Yale Shakespeare''

References

* ''The Complete Works of Shakespeare, Fifth Edition'', David Bevington, ed. Longman, 2003. * ''The Riverside Shakespeare'', Heather Dubrow, William T. Liston, Charles H. Shattuck, G. Blakemore Evans, Joseph Jay Tobin, Herschel Baker, Anne Barton, Frank Kermode, Harry Levin, Hallett Smith, Marie Edel, eds. Houghton Mifflin, 1997.

External links

''The Complete Works of William Shakespeare''
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

.
Complete Works of William Shakespeare''
at ollibrary. {{Authority control Works by William Shakespeare Shakespearean scholarship

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) 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 natio ...

Plays

Selected editions

Published editions

Academic editions

See also

References

External links