The Complete Pelican Shakespeare

I have 4 editions of "The Complete Works". The RSC, The Bevington, A cheaply made coffee table display version and of course The Complete Pelican. While the RSC will remain my favorite in terms of over all look and scholarly introductions, this is a fantastic edition for anyone looking to study Shakespeare. It is attractive, easy to read and has some fantastic introductory notes to each play. The paper is a tad too thin and you must handle with care or you'll end up with bent, ripped or altogether torn out pages. It should be noted that this edition is based on the second quarto and therefore many of the plays that went through the Q1, Q2 and 1F like Hamlet are a result of this. They do however provide in a separate section the excluded lines and line alterations that would appear in the first folio, so you aren't technically missing anything. The reason I give this warning is that many classes/directors will utilize a first folio edition and therefore you may find yourself at lost with some dialogue or phrases that do not appear in your edition if everyone else is using a first folio version.

Excellent one-volume book of Shakespeare's complete works, including all the poems and the plays. The volume is not too heavy and can be read comfortably on one's lap. Although the print is understandably smaller, I found the font nonetheless easy to read. The annotated text is invaluable for fully understanding archaic words and expressions no longer in use today. These annotations are printed at the bottom of each page (not in the text itself, which can be distracting). This feature makes the reading experience even more enjoyable. Overall, the Pelican Shakespeare is one of the very best of its kind. If you were to buy each of the Pelican Shakespeare volumes (37 plays and several volumes of poems) separately in paperback, at an average of $8 per volume, it would cost just over $300. For just $40.02, brand new and wrapped in cellophane, (which is what I paid at the time), you can have everything in one beautiful red hardcover volume, printed on acid-free paper.

Pelican is the best edition! It has handsome print with grade A paper. It comes with a ribbon marker. It has modern spelling and punctuation with an attractive text. There are no abbreviations with character names. I also like the fact that the Folio and Quarto of King Lear are printed side by side. Great comparison! Finally, usually when one is done reading all the plays, one is too tired to read the Sonnets and other non dramatic poetry. Not to worry! Pelican puts the Sonnets and non dramatic poetry in the FRONT of the book while the mind is still fresh. At $77 this edition is a steal and keeper. Happy Reading!

I had to purchase this book for my Shakespeare class last semester. It has all of Shakespeare's sonnets and plays. The print is small and written in columns, and there are a lot of helpful footnotes. Before each play there is an introduction that gives history and background, as well as the major themes of the play. Very thorough. A good book to have for any English or Drama major, or if you really just like Shakespeare's work.I really like the look of this book. It's pretty thick and heavy. I wouldn't carry it in a backpack because I didn't want the pages to get ruined (the pages are very thin and fragile). I recommend getting the hardcover because the book is so thick. (My professor used a paperback and it just seemed very flimsy.) It has an outer sleeve that doesn't cover the whole outer surface of the book, and you can take it off. It also has a ribbon bookmark sewn into the binding that comes in very handy.

Like many English majors in the sixties, I grew up reading this edition. The old one had a distinguished roster of editors and was pleasant to hold and read. In the latter category this new edition is a noble successor: clear type, full names of characters (no more "1 Serv."), and notes indicated by line numbers. This new edition fails however in its skimpy (9 pages!) of introductory matter and a masthead of editors who are fairly obscure. Still, I would award the plume to this volume for the first-time reader who wants a complete Shakespeare. The pleasant appearance that I mentioned above is important--we want a volume easy to handle and read. The editing is conservative and non-controversial (no more of the Oxford/Norton kinky titles--"The First Part of the Contention," sheesh--that's Henry VI, Part 2 to us plebians). And it's not as bulky as the power-lifter's Riverside and other editions. To sum up: if you have in your family or acquaintance a budding Shakespearean, this is still the one to buy. Seeing this book in the shop was like greeting an old friend. I look forward to hundreds of wonderful hours with it.

One of the best textbooks I've ever purchased. If I lost this one, I'd buy it again. Though it's a dictionary-sized tome, the helpful footnotes make Shakespeare comprehensible to those of us just getting acquainted with the Bard. When you understand all the subtle references, you see Shakespeare's genius and these works come to life. Then it makes sense why "the Bard" holds the honored place he does in English literature.It's not ideal to have to constantly have to look to the bottom of the page to check an explanatory footnote, but it's better than having the note interrupt the text. An electronic version could simplify this by using a clickable link in the passage to the footnote without your losing your place. But who can say she doesn't feel at least a tad smug being seen lugging around a hard copy of Shakespeare?

Rereading Shakespeare is like playing a piece of music. The pleasure grows as you learn it, until you can watch it in your mind without looking at the words, like you can play the music without looking at the score and then can hear the music without playing it.

This is an edition I'd find hard to live without. I love the RSC Shakespeare but I love this one equally. I don't always want the Puritanism of the RSC First Folio insistence. It is beautifully laid out and with more notes than usual. Nice touches include the genealogy charts for the history plays. Very readable essays are included for each play. If I was forced to choose one complete works - and I would hate that- I think it would be this one.

I bought this as a birthday present for my partner and it is exactly the one he wanted, the definitions for words you may not understand it tells you about them on the page instead of at the back. Which is really handy

For a beginner, the glossary is the most important aid. First I need to understand every word and its usage to be able to appreciate the play. The commentary and criticism come later.Unfortunately, all the editions I have seen so far, both individual and complete works (Arden, Cambridge, Oxford, Signet, Yale Annotated editions), fail in this respect. The glossaries explain the common words and phrases but not the unfamiliar words or usage.The Complete Pelican has the same problem. Just a few examples:Julius CaesarAct 1, line1: Is “Hence” used as a verb or adverb? Does it mean “away from here” or “go”? Because the next word is “home”. Anyone can easily make out the meaning from the context but what exactly was the sense in which it was used?Line 3: “Mechanical” is explained as “workers”. Does it mean “workers” or “manual labourers”? Again, the overall meaning is clear from the context.Line12: The meaning of “directly” is easily understandable to anyone and need not be explained.Line 16: If “directly” needs to be explained (above), then why not “beseech” which is less familiar?Line 61: “See, whe’r their basest mettle be not moved” – What is the meaning of this sentence?Act 1, (iii), line 109: “What rubbish and what offal, when it serves for the base matter to illuminate so vile a thing as Caesar” – What is the full meaning of this sentence?Act 4, iii: The word “battle” is explained thrice thought it is used in the same sense in all the contexts. Is the glossary done so thoughtlessly?Hamlet:Act 1, (i), Line 5: What does “He” mean here?Line 15: “Friends to the ground” is not explained but on line 29 “approve” is explained!Line 58: “sensible and true avouch of mine own eyes” – Not explained at all.If these words and usage need no explanation, then so is the rest of the text. Then why have a glossary at all? Here the glossary is included just for the sake of it. It helps neither the beginner nor the scholar.The RSC Complete Works had a more useful glossary but I returned it (I regret) thinking it was too bulky. I don’t know about the Norton complete edition but the Arden, the Oxford, the Pelican are not worth buying if you want a helpful glossary.The older edition (978-0140714494, edited by Alfred Harbage), though 40 years old, has better paper and print than 978-0141000589 which is the latest from Pelican. The later has 400 pages more for the essays and commentaries but the glossary is the same.I got the newer edition for Rs 1519. It is not worth it if you have to pay more.

This book is well made. The spine is a heavy construction which allows it to be opened fully. The paper grade is great. The font type is easy to read and the letter blocking is set correctly. It feels great in your hands.

Premessa: i testi sono solo in lingua originale.Detto questo il volume è ben rilegato, carta leggera ma non economica, bella copertina pesante.Il libro contiene tutte le opere teatrali del Bardo e i sonetti.Ogni opera è introdotta da una decina di pagine di saggio, il più delle volte molto interessante e per nulla prolisso o banale.I testi sono corredati da utili note per chiarire termini arcaici o voli pindarici particolarmente arditi.Veramente un bel libro, ma solo ed esclusivamente se si è in grado di capire la lingua di Shakespeare.