This expansive four-volume work gives students detailed explanations of Shakespeare's plays and poems and also covers his age, life, theater, texts, and language. Numerous excerpts from primary source historical documents contextualize his works, while reviews of productions chronicle his performance history and reception. Shakespeare's works often served to convey simple truths, but they are also complex, multilayered masterpieces. Shakespeare drew on varied sources to create his plays, and while the plays are sometimes set in worlds before the Elizabethan age, they nonetheless parallel and comment on situations in his own era. Written with the needs of students in mind, this four-volume set demystifies Shakespeare for today's readers and provides the necessary perspective and analysis students need to better appreciate the genius of his work. This indispensable ready reference examines Shakespeare's plots, language, and themes; his use of sources and exploration of issues important to his age; the interpretation of his works through productions from the Renaissance to the present; and the critical reaction to key questions concerning his writings. The book provides coverage of each key play and poems in discrete sections, with each section presenting summaries; discussions of themes, characters, language, and imagery; and clear explications of key passages. Readers will be able to inspect historical documents related to the topics explored in the work being discussed and view excerpts from Shakespeare's sources as well as reviews of major productions. The work also provides a comprehensive list of print and electronic resources suitable for student research.

When it was first published in 1891, this edition of Sir Philip Sidney's Apologie for Poetrie (or the Defense of Poetry) represented a clear departure from previous editions. The Cambridge Fellow and classical scholar Evelyn S. Shuckburgh set to the task of correcting the numerous errors and alterations which had accumulated over the course of many previous editions, beginning with the folio version of 1598. Shuckburgh's text draws from the collation of seven earlier editions, giving precedence to the first printing of 1595 for which he consulted the copy held in the British Museum. The result is a precise and thorough text, complete with notes, a glossarial index and an introductory description of Sidney's life and works.