The Henry Irving Shakespeare 8 Volume Paperback Set

This historic eight-volume edition conveys a sense of Shakespeare's plays in performance which has never been equalled.

William Shakespeare (Author), Henry Irving (Edited by), Frank A. Marshall (Edited by)

9781108001427, Cambridge University Press

Multiple-component retail product, published 24 September 2009

3790 pages
28.2 x 21.6 x 12 cm, 5 kg

Henry Irving, the influential and controversial Victorian actor, was closely involved in the publication of this distinctive Shakespeare edition. As an actor, his concern was largely with the intellectual project of seeing each play as a unified work, rather than with producing strong emotional effects in the audience. In the words of his obituary in The Times, he appealed to scholars 'by his reverent and often acute treatment of the text', and accustomed playgoers to look for 'more than empty amusement'. To the edition, he brought a sense of the plays in performance which has never been equalled before or since. Addressing a general readership, he both included notes on cuts used by professional companies and suggested others that would facilitate amateur performances. Gordon Browne's illustrations, which suggest the contemporary styles of stage costume, are another attractive feature of this eight-volume edition, which will appeal to Shakespearians and theatre historians alike.

Volume I: 1. Love's Labour's Lost
2. The Comedy of Errors
3. The Two Gentlemen of Verona
4. Romeo and Juliet
5. King Henry VI, Part I
Volume II: 1. King Henry VI, Part II
2. King Henry VI, Part III
3. Henry VI, condensed version
4. The Taming of the Shrew
5. A Midsummer Night's Dream
6. King Richard II
Volume III: 1. King Richard III
2. King John
3. The Merchant of Venice
4. King Henry IV, Part I
5. King Henry IV, Part II
Volume IV: 1. King Henry V
2. The Merry Wives of Windsor
3. Much Ado About Nothing
4. As You Like It
5. Twelfth Night
Volume V: 1. All's Well That Ends Well
2. Julius Caesar
3. Measure for Measure
4. Troilus and Cressida
5. Macbeth
Volume VI: 1. Othello
2. Antony and Cleopatra
2. Coriolanus
4. King Lear
Volume VII: 1. Timon of Athens
2. Cymbeline
3. The Tempest
4. Titus Andronicus
5. The Winter's Tale'
Volume VIII: 1. General introduction
2. Hamlet
3. King Henry VIII
4. Pericles, Prince of Tyre
5. Poems
Index.

Subject Areas: Literary studies: general [DSB]