Tag: The Plays of William Shakespeare

Book Edition Reviews, Book Reviews, Books

King Henry IV, parts I & II, by William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1939)

Henry IV, Part I and Henry IV, Part II are historical plays by William Shakespeare. Part I, which  was written and first performed in 1597 and first printed in quarto in 1598 by stationer Andrew Wise, has always been much more popular and critically acclaimed than Part II.  In fact, Henry IV, Part I was Shakespeare’s most popular printed text with eight new editions appearing over the first one hundred years of its existence. Henry IV, … Continue reading King Henry IV, parts I & II, by William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1939)

Chris T. Adamson1 Comment
Book Edition Reviews, Books

King John, by William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1940)

William Shakespeare wrote King John in the 1590’s, probably after Richard II but before Henry IV, Part I. It was first published as part of the First Folio in 1623. Along with Richard II, King John is one of only two plays by Shakespeare written entirely in verse. While it was very popular in the Victorian era, it is now one of Shakespeare’s least familiar and least performed works. None-the-less, the realization that … Continue reading King John, by William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1940)

Chris T. Adamson4 Comments
Book Edition Reviews, Book Reviews, Books

Richard the Second, William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1940)

The historical play Richard the Second, by William Shakespeare, was written sometime around 1595. It is based on Raphael Holinshed‘s Chronicles. The play focuses on the the last two years of the life of King Richard II of England, 1398-1400, especially the conflict between Richard and Henry Bolingbroke (later King Henry IV) over the kingship.  A synopsis is given by Sir Paul Harvey, from The Oxford Companion to English Literature: It deals with the arbitrary exile of Henry Bolingbroke … Continue reading Richard the Second, William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1940)

Chris T. Adamson2 Comments
Book Reviews, Books

The Comedy of Errors, by William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1939)

The Comedy of Errors is William Shakespeare‘s shortest play, and one the earliest written (first performed in 1594, though not published until the First Folio in 1623). The comedy, based entirely on the happenstances occurring when two identical twins that had been separated at birth end up in the same place, interacting with the same sets of people, unbeknownst to all involved. The resulting interplay of attempted seduction, … Continue reading The Comedy of Errors, by William Shakespeare, Limited Editions Club (1939)

Chris T. Adamson1 Comment