Shakespeare is the greatest dramatist in the English language, but none of his manuscripts survive. Less than half his plays were printed before he died, in editions known as quartos from
their relatively small size. Most of his plays appeared in the First Folio, a large, handsome volume printed seven years after Shakespeare’s death. What we know of his dramas comes from these
sources. This new introduction to Shakespeare’s work contains specially chosen extracts from each of his plays and major poems, including collaborative and apocryphal work. Each quotation is
accompanied by a full-page reproduction of an early printed edition, along with brief notes about the context and story of the play.
