Literally tens of thousands of books have been written about Shakespeare, from almost every imaginable angle. Think of any noun; there's a good chance that someone somewhere wrote a "Shakespeare and [insert-noun]" at some point in time. The following books are recommended by HLAS regulars as their favorites in several areas of Shakespearean studies. So far as we know, all of these books are still in print, and should be readily available through libraries, book stores, or on-line retailers.
- A) Best editions of the plays (collected works or series)
- B) Analysis and criticism of the plays
- C) The life of William Shakespeare
- D) Historical information on England (1200-1650)
- E) Historical information on the Shakespearean theatre
- F) Shakespeare in Modern Performance
- G) Books on the authorship question
- H) Guides to the vocabulary of the plays
A) Best editions of the plays (collected works or series):
- Applause individual series
("...for people with a strong performance bent...") - Arden individual series
("...reliable and thoroughly annotated...")
("...comprehensive introduction, copious footnotes...") - The Annotated Shakespeare edited by Rowse, A.L.
New York, Greenwich House, 1984, ISBN 0-517-436035
("...excellent notes and commentary...") - The Norton Shakespeare, Based on the Oxford Edition
edited by Stephan Greenblatt, Walter Cohen, Jean E. Howard, Katharine Eisaman Maus.
W.W. Norton & Co., 1997, ISBN 0-393-04107-7 - The Complete Oxford Shakespeare general editors Wells, Stanley and
Taylor, Gary
New York, Oxford University Press, 1987, ISBN 0-198-12972-6 - Oxford individual series
("...contains most up-to-date scholarship and a nice performance section...") - Penguin individual series
- The Riverside Shakespeare edited by Evans, G. Blakemore
Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1974, ISBN 0-395-04402-2 - The Signet Classic series, general editor Barret, Sylvan
The Penguin Group
B) Analysis and criticism of the plays and poems:
- Angel With Horns - Fifteen Lectures On Shakespeare by Rossiter, A.P.
Longman, 1961/1989, ISBN 0-582-01499-9
("...the Angel with Horns is Richard III...") - The Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets by Vendler, Helen
Cambridge MA Belknap Press, 1997, ISBN: 0-674-63711-9 - Asimov's Guide to Shakespeare by Asimov, Isaac; illustrations by Rafael Palacios.
Avenal Books; Crown Publishing, 1978 (c)1970, ISBN 0-517-26825-6
("...He doesn't even really attempt to interpret anything -- he simply provides a very wide array of historical asides to provide a lucid context for understanding the plays...") - The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare Studies edited by Wells,
Stanley
Cambridge University Press, 1986, ISBN 0-521-31841-6
("...has a good chapter on Shakespeare on film and TV...") - Elegy by W.S. by Foster, Donald
University of Delaware Press, 1989, ISBN 0-874-1335-1?
("...fascinating in the insight it gives to Shakespeare's style...") - The Friendly Shakespeare by Epstein, Norrie
The Penguin Group, 1994, ISBN 0-14-01-3886-2
("...terrific introductory book to things Shakespearian...") - Introducing Shakespeare by Harrison, G.B.
Reprint Series, 1948, ISBN 0-781-20132-2 - Prefaces to Shakespeare by Granville-Barker, Harley
Princeton, Princeton University Press, 1946
("...Intensely detailed yet practical readings of the plays...") - The Romantics on Shakespeare edited by Bate, Jonathan
London, Penguin Books, 1992, ISBN 0-140-53021-5
("...a good anthology of Romantic criticism...") - Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human by Bloom, Harold
New York, Putnam, 1998 ISBN 1-573-22120-1 - Shakespeare Our Contemporary by Kott, Jan
New York, Norton, 1964, ISBN 0-393-00736-7
(A prominent Central European critic writes of Shakespeare from the contemporary perspective of existentialism, Theatre of the Absurd, and political repression) - Shakespeare's Imagery - And What It Tells Us by Spurgeon, Caroline
Beacon Press, Beacon Hill Boston, 1935, ISBN 0-521-09258-2.
("...an invaluable classic about the playwright's use of images..") - Shakespearean Tragedy by Bradley, A.C.
Macmillan, 1992, ISBN 0-333-57535-0
(First published in 1903, this collection of essays on Shakespeare's four greatest tragedies - Hamlet, Othello, Macbeth, and King Lear - "...remains one of the great classics of literary criticism.") - What Happens In Hamlet by Wilson, John Dover
Cambridge University Press, 1935, ISBN 0-521-09109-B
("...Brilliant. Easy to read....")
C) The life of William Shakespeare:
- Shakespeare A to Z by Boyce, Charles
Roundtable Press, 1990, ISBN 0-440-50429-5
("...best one volume, short answer, general reference book for life and times type questions...") - Shakespeare Alive, by Papp, Joseph & Kirkland, Elizabeth
New York, Bantam, 1988, ISBN 0-553-27081-8
("...excellent beginning book for the life and times...") - Shakespeare The Evidence by Wilson, Ian
Headline, 1993, ISBN 0-7472-3903-7
("...very informative, if slightly skewed by the emphasis on WS's father's religion...") - Shakespeare The Man: Revised Edition by Rowse, A.L.
New York, St. Martin's Press, 1988, ISBN 0-312-03425-3
("...good biography with excellent detective work on the 'Dark Lady' question...") - Shakespeare's Lives by Schoenbaum, Samuel
New York, Oxford University Press, 1991, ISBN 0-198-18618-5
- William Shakespeare - A Compact Documentary Life by Schoenbaum,
Samuel
New York, Oxford University Press, 1987, ISBN 0-195-05161-0
(An excellent biography that sticks as closely as possible to the established facts of Shakespeare's life) - William Shakespeare, A Literary Life by Dutton, Richard
Macmillan Press Ltd, 1989, ISBN 0-333-41718-6 - William Shakespeare: The Extraordinary Life of the Most Successful Writer
of All Time by Gurr, Andrew
New York, Harper Collins, 1995, ISBN 0-06-273013-4
("...a wonderful general audience book with stunning photographs..")
D) Historical information on England (1200-1650)
- The Age of Shakespeare by Laroque, Francois
New York, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1991, ISBN 0-8109-2890-6 - The Family, Sex and Marriage in England 1500-1800 by Stone, Lawrence
Harper Collins, 1986, ISBN 0-061-31979-1 - The Oxford History of Britain edited by Morgan, Kenneth
Oxford University Press ISBN 0-19-285202-7 - Shakespeare, Court, Crowd and Playhouse by Laroque, Francois
Thames and Hudson Ltd, London, and Harry N Abrams, Inc, NY. 1993, Reprinted 1997. ISBN 0-500-30035-6
(Small, inexpensive, well written, many beautiful, period illustrations.) - Shakespeare's English Kings, History, Chronicle and Drama by Saccio,
Peter
New York, Oxford University Press, 1977, ISBN 0-19-281224-6
(How Shakespeare adapted the Holinshed chronicles in writing his 10 English history plays "...increased my enjoyment and understanding of the [history plays]...") - The Wars of the Roses by Seward, Desmond
Penguin Books, ISBN 0-670-84258-3
("...especially useful in getting a handle on all the characters in the history plays...")
E) Historical information on the Shakespearean theatre:
- Casting Shakespeare's Plays: London Actors and their Roles, 1590-1642 by King, T.J.
- Playgoing in Shakespeare's London: Second Edition by Gurr, Andrew
Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1966, ISBN 0-521-57449-8
("...excellent scholarly history of theatre and audiences...") - Shakespeare - An Illustrated Stage History edited by Jackson Russell &
Bate, Jonathan
New York, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-198-12372-8 - The Shakespearean Stage: 1564-1616 by Gurr, Andrew
New York, Cambridge University Press, 1980, ISBN 0-521-23029-2
F) Shakespeare in Modern Performance
- The BBC Shakespeare Plays by Willis, Susan
University of North Carolina Press, 1991, ISBN 0-8078-1963-8
("...a behind-the-scenes look at the production of the BBC-TV Shakespeare series...") - Clamorous Voices, Shakespeare's Women Today by Rutter, Carol
The Women's Press, 1988, ISBN 0-7043-4145-X
("...interviews with five leading actresses about their roles in various WS plays...") - Hamlet: Film, Television, and Audio Performance by Kliman, Bernice
Farleigh-Dickinson College Press, 1988, ISBN 0-838-63290-4111 - Players of Shakespeare Volume 1 edited by Brockbank, Philip;
Volumes 2-3 edited by Jackson, Russell & Smallwood, Robert - Playing Shakespeare by Barton, John
London and New York, Methuen, 1984, ISBN 0-413-54790-6
("...perhaps the best general introduction to the range of issues involved in playing Shakespeare...") - Shakespeare on Screen: An International Filmography and Videography
by Rothwell, Kenneth S.
New York, Schuman, 1990, ISBN 1-555-70049-7 - Shakespeare on the American Stage (2 volumes) by Shattuck, Charles
Washington, Folger Shakespeare Library, 1976 ISBN 0-813-90651-2 - William Shakespeare's Richard III by McKellen, Ian
Doubleday, 1996, ISBN 0-385-40801-3.
("...a really good read...")
G) Books on the authorship question:
- The Mysterious William Shakespeare by Ogburn, Charlton
McLean, VA., EPM Publications, 1992, ISBN 0-939-00967-6
(The Oxfordian magnum opus - "...completely changed my way of looking at Shakespeare, the man...") - Alias Shakespeare by Sobran, Joseph
New York, The Free Press, 1997, ISBN 0-684-82658-5
(Sobran also argues for the Oxfordian position - his book is considerably more concise than Ogburn's) - Shakespeare, In Fact by Matus, Irwin
Continuum Publications, 1994, ISBN 0-826-40624-6
(Intended as a refutation of the Oxfordian position in general and of Ogburn in particular)
H) Guides to the vocabulary of the plays:
- A Dictionary of Shakespeare's Sexual Puns and Their Significance:
Second Edition by Rubenstein, Frankie
New York, St. Martin's Press, 1995, ISBN 0-312-12677-8 - A Shakespeare Glossary by Onions, C.T.
Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1986, ISBN 0-198-11199-1 - Shakespeare's Bawdy by Partridge Eric
New York, E.P. Dutton and Co. Inc., 1960
also Routledge, 1990.
("...excellent dictionary of the meanings of all the bawdy references and puns...")
("...so well put together it can be read on its own...") - Shakespeare's Wordplay by Mahood, M. M.
Methuen University Paperbacks, 1957, ISBN 0-416-29560-6.