The Complete Pelican Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare
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Book Summary Information
Author: William ShakespeareEditor: Stephen Orgel
Editor: A. R. Braunmuller
Edition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2002-10-01
ISBN: 0141000589
Number of pages: 1808
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Book Reviews of The Complete Pelican Shakespeare
Book Review: My Favorite Complete Shakespeare...
Summary: 5 Stars
The Pelican Shakespeare is oftentimes overlooked in a very crowded field of complete Shakespeare editions. It faces stiff competition from the likes of Norton (who have more or less monopolized all of literature for college students these days), Bevington, and Riverside. I own all three, but I find myself coming back to Pelican.
At first look, one can definately see why a past reviewer calls The New Pelican Shakespeare "sleeker." It is considerably more compact than the aforementioned heavyweights, and more brief compared even to the first edition. The paperback release, in particular, is ideal for students who need an edition to carry to class (it weighs less than a standard textbook).
The reason for this is that, unlike Norton in particular, the annotations throughout the text itself is relatively light. This is pretty refreshing when you just want to get to the plays. The quality of these notes is exemplary. They are cohesive, unassuming, and enlightening. As with the Bevington, line numbers are marked where there is an accompanying footnote - something that saves the reader from having to count between markings and from wondering whether there is any footnote at all for the present line. Also, general introductory material (a biography of Shakespeare, an essay on Elizabethan theatre, and an essay on the text of his plays) is kept to a bare minimum. These brief essays amount to less than ten pages. This is pretty modest compared to the likes of Riverside or Bevington. I'm not too fond of humongous all-encompassing introductions, and professors usually suppliment the reading with an external book instead: something like Russ MacDonald's "Bedford Companion to Shakespeare" for English students or Michael York and Adrian Brine's "A Shakespearean Actor Prepares" for theatre students.
I was actually taken aback by how much revision was done to the original Pelican Shakespeare - in fact, just about everything here is new: new introductions, new annotations, and even newly constructed texts themselves. (Example: In the first edition, Juliet's line in Act II: Scene 2 of "Romeo and Juliet" reads: "That which we call a rose, by any other name..." The new edition reads "That which we call a rose by any other word..." Both editions, though, include footnotes indicating the variance.) I do kind of miss the old first edition (edited by Alfred Harbage). It was a formidible, scholarly, and easy-to-use edition. In particular I will miss it's introductions to each individual play. The introductions here are by no means inferior - they are eloquent, informative, and well-researched. I may have just become attached to the more stately essays in the previous edition.
The texts themselves are authoritative, conservatively edited and beautifully presented - standard modern spelling, readable and clear typeface in two columns. "King Lear" is here in three versions. The 1608 Quarto and 1623 Folio texts are presented in columns juxtaposed side-by-side (makes for convenient comparison), followed by a conflated text (the one from the old Harbage edition, slightly edited) that combines the best of both worlds. Ample black-and-white illustrations (as well as attractive fascimiles of the first few pages of the First Folio and Quartos) compliment the edition. Overall, the Pelican Shakespeare is an edition designed with the everyday reader in mind. Students will find it a streamlined, well-designed edition for serious study.
Summary of The Complete Pelican Shakespeare
THE CLASSIC ONE-VOLUME SHAKESPEARE,INCLUDING ALL THE PLAYS AND POEMS,
NOW COMPLETELY REVISED AND UPDATED
The distinguished Pelican Shakespeare series has sold five million copies. Now Penguin is proud to offer this fully revised new hardcover edition of The Complete Pelican Shakespeare.
Since the series debuted more than forty years ago, developments in scholarship have revolutionized our understanding of William Shakespeare, his time, and his works. With new editors who have incorporated the most up-to-date research and debate, this revised edition of The Complete Pelican Shakespeare will be the premier choice for students, professors, and general readers for decades to come.
The general editors of the series-world-renowned Shakespeareans Stephen Orgel of Stanford University and A. R. Braunmuller of UCLA - devoted seven years to preparing introductions and notes with a team of eminent scholars to the forty volumes of Shakespeare's plays and poems. Now, the new series is complete and available in one lavish and complete edition.
* Authoritative and meticulously researched texts
* Illuminating new introductions and notes by distinguished authors
* Essays on Shakespeare's life, the theatrical world of his time, and the selection of texts
* A handsome new design inside and out * Deluxe packaging, including a full-linen case, ribbon marker, Smyth-sewn binding, printed endpapers, acid-free paper, and illustrations throughout
* Photos and drawings reflecting Shakespeare's theatrical legacy
* Line numbers marking every tenth line and footnote references
* Both glossorial and explanatory notes appearing conveniently at the foot of the page
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