The Works of Shakespeare are timeless, and this edition does it suitable justice without breaking the bank.
First: I am, foremost, an aficionado of Shakespeare. In this review, I am not here to critique his plays; I am giving a brief piece of insight into the make and build of this edition. If you want a critique of all individual plays, I'd suggest reading the introductions of individual editions at your local library.
The Outside: There is one word for the looks of this edition- beautiful. Masterful design went into making this volume look authentic and captivating, emphasizing the beauty of Shakespeare. However, it does emphasize a sort of old, valuable, "this is too good to touch" feeling, but such a comment is pure squabble. It makes a great aesthetic contribution to your library. Indeed, at times it seems the edition was meant to be more for looks than reading.
The Inside: Here, the edition begins to fail- slightly. Although the typeface is crisp and eminently readable, the text is rather small. Second, there are absolutely no line numbers of any sort- no way for quick reference to any sort of allusion in another work. Lastly, the paper is of that thin, cheap quality, such as what you find in your average Bible- not a cellophane texture, but close. Lastly, there are NO FOOTNOTES TO EXPLAIN ARCHAIC LANGUAGES/ OBSCURE REFERENCES. Unless you are familiar with literature and history to a small extent, try getting a more scholarly edition. However, this is made better by what this edition does right, largely by eliminating one of my enormous pet peeves. ALL CHARACTER HEADINGS ARE PRESENTED IN FULL- NOT ABBREVIATED! For many adherents of "Bardology," such shorthand is irritating to no end, and to see it not presented at all here is an enormous relief. Secondly, at the beginning of scenes, the setting is listed- this helps for readibility, staging, etc., and is relegated to footnotes in many editions (Pelican Shakespeare) or not present at all (Folger).
Build: The build quality here is so-so. When I first tried to read it, I noticed the gilding gave many pages the tendency to stick together, forcing me to go through each individual page to pull them apart. Also, any scratch or abrasion could cause the gilding to be scraped off the pages- although if you keep good care of your books (and not accidentally drop it, as I did) you should be fine with that issue. Lastly, for whatever odd reason, even if I have no idea if this is prevalent in any other copy, the page presenting a profile of Shakespeare began to tear away from the binding. It was easily fixed, but is still important to mention.
Explanation: So why do I give this edition four stars? Why not three? Although the edition is average in quality, and seems it wins over many other "Complete Works" in the most important area: price. This edition is a cheap, thrifty twenty dollars, all for an edition that looks like it should cost one hundred. Although you can get better editions out on the market, they can run you upwards of $65 (!). For a perfectly readable, outwardly gorgeous edition, the price-to-quality ratio more than makes up for the extra star.
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Overview
Hamlet. Romeo and Juliet. Henry V. Macbeth. A Midsummer Night's Dream. King Lear. Lovers of literature will immediately recognize these as signature works of William Shakespeare, whose plays still rank as the greatest dramas ever produced in the English language four centuries after they were written. The Complete Works of William Shakespeare collects all thirty-seven of the immortal Bard's comedies, tragedies, and historical plays in a collectible leatherbound edition. This volume also features Shakespeare's complete poetry, including the sonnets. With this beautiful leatherbound edition, you can enjoy Shakespeare's enduring literary legacy again and again.The Complete Works of William ...