This is an attractive genuine bonded leather edition, with gilt-edged pages and gold ribbon marker that will make an elegant addition to any home library. This is a beautiful collection of Shakespeare's works that will be treasured forever; a wonderful gift idea. William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. His plays remain highly popular today and are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted in diverse cultural and political contexts throughout the world. This edition of "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" is part of "Barnes & Noble's" series of quality leather bound volumes. Each title in the series presents a classic work in an attractively designed edition bound in genuine bonded leather. These books make elegant additions to any home library.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
William Shakespeare is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon". His surviving works, including some collaborations, consist of about 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems and several other poems. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
37 of 39 people found the following review helpful
By Galdor
Format:Leather Bound
As the owner of a number of rare leather books I was a bit skeptical about the Barnes and Noble Leatherbound Classics. However, I have purchased two of them, the first being The Complete Works of Shakespeare and I am very pleased. It does not have the same quality elements as say an Easton Press book, but for the price I think it is great.
On the outside this book is very nice looking. The decorations are attractive and it has four raised hubs on the spine. To me it has a nice feel and seems durable. It does not at all give the sense of being cheaply constructed which is what I at first expected for the price.
On the inside I enjoy the contents and the lay out. There are however a couple of possible concerns. First is that the paper is fairly thin and somewhat transparent. You can definately see through a page to the writing on the other side. If this bothers you it may not be the version you want. Second is that the type is a bit small. If you do not have good reading eyes, again this may not be the copy for you. It is a bit reminiscent of a standard bible on the inside. There are also some places in which the type is slightly faded or has various imperfections. I dont find it to be particularly bad considering this is a value buy. I think these are simply a result of the massive amount of content in the book. The complete works of shakespeare coming to nearly 1300 pages.
All in all I think this book looks great on the shelf, has a very large amount of content for the price, and seems to me like it will last fairly well. The only concern I have is the readability of the print for some people.
On the outside this book is very nice looking. The decorations are attractive and it has four raised hubs on the spine. To me it has a nice feel and seems durable. It does not at all give the sense of being cheaply constructed which is what I at first expected for the price.
On the inside I enjoy the contents and the lay out. There are however a couple of possible concerns. First is that the paper is fairly thin and somewhat transparent. You can definately see through a page to the writing on the other side. If this bothers you it may not be the version you want. Second is that the type is a bit small. If you do not have good reading eyes, again this may not be the copy for you. It is a bit reminiscent of a standard bible on the inside. There are also some places in which the type is slightly faded or has various imperfections. I dont find it to be particularly bad considering this is a value buy. I think these are simply a result of the massive amount of content in the book. The complete works of shakespeare coming to nearly 1300 pages.
All in all I think this book looks great on the shelf, has a very large amount of content for the price, and seems to me like it will last fairly well. The only concern I have is the readability of the print for some people.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By Night Owl
Format:Leather Bound
There is no way I can review Shakespeare's Complete Works any better than it has been already done many times by some very smart people -- but I want to comment on the physical quality of this edition.
Mind you, I already have an edition, printed in England about 50 years ago, that has sentimental value (a supportive English teacher half the world over gave it to me with a praising inscription) - so I wasn't looking for another copy. But then I came across this leather bound edition in a Barnes & Noble store, and I found this book so extraordinarily GORGEOUS that I would have been unable to leave the store without it. What a surprise for that kind of money (about $18). What a gem!
Everything about this book is just beautiful. The smooth and shiny bonded leather provides an elegant background for gold and red rich classic ornamentation in the front, on the spine, and on the back cover. The spine has four raised hubs, giving it a 3-dimensional look -- like on old classic leather-bound tomes. A handsome colorful portrait of Shakespeare (and another one, in black and white inside) completes the sophisticated look.
It is a hefty tome (2.6 inches thick), but very sturdy (pages are sewn-in). The sides of pages are perfectly gilded and smooth to the touch. Inside, the print face is nicely old-fashioned, stylistically appropriate to the book. Additionally, the very dark/black print provides great contrast with cream-colored acid-free paper. The book also has stunning, richly colored marbled end-papers, and a sewn-in golden silk ribbon book marker.
It is true that pages are slightly translucent, but I don't see it as a problem -- the print is black and sharp enough to stand out quite well, so the faint shadows from underneath don't interfere with reading. For anyone who uses reading glasses, the size of the font will be just fine. Young people with good eyes will have no problem, but some middle-age readers may have to admit to themselves it's time for reading glasses.
I only have one complaint: the margins on pages are too small/narrow. When the inner margin is thin, and the book is thick, it makes it harder to read -- you must keep the book as widely open as possible to see letters close to the seam (resting the book on a lap desk helps). But even with that issue, I think this edition still deserves 5 stars.
Kudos to the anonymous designer of this book (I have a hunch that small margins were the idea of bean counters, not the designer). You have created a splendid book that is a joy to hold and look at, and I am happy to display in a prominent place in my home.
Mind you, I already have an edition, printed in England about 50 years ago, that has sentimental value (a supportive English teacher half the world over gave it to me with a praising inscription) - so I wasn't looking for another copy. But then I came across this leather bound edition in a Barnes & Noble store, and I found this book so extraordinarily GORGEOUS that I would have been unable to leave the store without it. What a surprise for that kind of money (about $18). What a gem!
Everything about this book is just beautiful. The smooth and shiny bonded leather provides an elegant background for gold and red rich classic ornamentation in the front, on the spine, and on the back cover. The spine has four raised hubs, giving it a 3-dimensional look -- like on old classic leather-bound tomes. A handsome colorful portrait of Shakespeare (and another one, in black and white inside) completes the sophisticated look.
It is a hefty tome (2.6 inches thick), but very sturdy (pages are sewn-in). The sides of pages are perfectly gilded and smooth to the touch. Inside, the print face is nicely old-fashioned, stylistically appropriate to the book. Additionally, the very dark/black print provides great contrast with cream-colored acid-free paper. The book also has stunning, richly colored marbled end-papers, and a sewn-in golden silk ribbon book marker.
It is true that pages are slightly translucent, but I don't see it as a problem -- the print is black and sharp enough to stand out quite well, so the faint shadows from underneath don't interfere with reading. For anyone who uses reading glasses, the size of the font will be just fine. Young people with good eyes will have no problem, but some middle-age readers may have to admit to themselves it's time for reading glasses.
I only have one complaint: the margins on pages are too small/narrow. When the inner margin is thin, and the book is thick, it makes it harder to read -- you must keep the book as widely open as possible to see letters close to the seam (resting the book on a lap desk helps). But even with that issue, I think this edition still deserves 5 stars.
Kudos to the anonymous designer of this book (I have a hunch that small margins were the idea of bean counters, not the designer). You have created a splendid book that is a joy to hold and look at, and I am happy to display in a prominent place in my home.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Leather Bound
Shakespeare requires no introduction -- he is "the Bard," the most imposing playwright and storyteller in the English language. And "William Shakespeare: The Complete Works" brings together every one of his 39 plays, ranging from harrowing tragedies to airy little puffs of comedy -- and even the lesser plays are still brilliant.
The plays basically are divided into comedies, histories and tragedies. The tragedies are pretty much... tragic, the comedies are not always funny but end semi-happily, and the histories... well, dramatizations of history.
And everybody has heard of the greats here -- the Scottish lord who murders his way to kingship, young lovers divided by a feud, a Moorish general who is driven mad with jealousy, an elderly king whose arrogance rips his life apart, a very cleaned-up version of Henry VIII's split from his first wife, the goofy Prince Hal and his growth into a great king. There are feuding fairies, bickering lovers, romantic tangles, Julius Caesar's demise, gender-bending, an exiled duke/magician on his island, and the infamous "pound of flesh" bargain.
But Shakespeare also wrote a bunch of lesser-known plays that often can't be so neatly categorized -- a rotten love affair during the siege of Troy, a Roman general attacking his own city, an Athenian gentleman embittered by humanity, Richard III's Machiavellian plot to become king, two sets of twins separated at birth, a corrupt judge obsessed with a lovely nun, Falstaff's doomed efforts to make money, and so on. Some of these ("Troilus and Cressida") aren't nearly as good as his "main" body of work, but they're still excellent.
For all Shakespeare's plays, it's best to read them AFTER you've seen a good performance. Otherwise, it's like reading a movie script to a movie you haven't seen -- easy to get lost, and the dramatic effects aren't easy to connect to. But if you've seen performances of any/all of Shakespeare's plays, then his vibrant stories and poetry leap off the page.
There are long eloquent speeches, puns, clever linguistic twists, and evocative language that soaks the play in atmosphere ("With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine/There sleeps Titania sometime of the night/Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight..."). In fact, his plays are diamond mines of quotations -- some are infamous ("To be or not to be") and some of which have floated into public knowledge without labels ("Cowards die many times before their deaths/The valiant never taste of death but once").
And while some of his plays are basically fluff, he manages to weave in moral questions, criticism and explorations of the human soul. And his characters range as far as his plots -- kings and princes, teenage lovers, proud but doomed men, bratty queens, the witty but combative Beatrice and Benedick, and even the puppet-master mage Prospero.
Shakespeare's "Complete Works" is a must-have for anyone who loves the English language -- his writing was unparalleled, and even his lesser plays are a cut above the rest.
The plays basically are divided into comedies, histories and tragedies. The tragedies are pretty much... tragic, the comedies are not always funny but end semi-happily, and the histories... well, dramatizations of history.
And everybody has heard of the greats here -- the Scottish lord who murders his way to kingship, young lovers divided by a feud, a Moorish general who is driven mad with jealousy, an elderly king whose arrogance rips his life apart, a very cleaned-up version of Henry VIII's split from his first wife, the goofy Prince Hal and his growth into a great king. There are feuding fairies, bickering lovers, romantic tangles, Julius Caesar's demise, gender-bending, an exiled duke/magician on his island, and the infamous "pound of flesh" bargain.
But Shakespeare also wrote a bunch of lesser-known plays that often can't be so neatly categorized -- a rotten love affair during the siege of Troy, a Roman general attacking his own city, an Athenian gentleman embittered by humanity, Richard III's Machiavellian plot to become king, two sets of twins separated at birth, a corrupt judge obsessed with a lovely nun, Falstaff's doomed efforts to make money, and so on. Some of these ("Troilus and Cressida") aren't nearly as good as his "main" body of work, but they're still excellent.
For all Shakespeare's plays, it's best to read them AFTER you've seen a good performance. Otherwise, it's like reading a movie script to a movie you haven't seen -- easy to get lost, and the dramatic effects aren't easy to connect to. But if you've seen performances of any/all of Shakespeare's plays, then his vibrant stories and poetry leap off the page.
There are long eloquent speeches, puns, clever linguistic twists, and evocative language that soaks the play in atmosphere ("With sweet musk-roses and with eglantine/There sleeps Titania sometime of the night/Lull'd in these flowers with dances and delight..."). In fact, his plays are diamond mines of quotations -- some are infamous ("To be or not to be") and some of which have floated into public knowledge without labels ("Cowards die many times before their deaths/The valiant never taste of death but once").
And while some of his plays are basically fluff, he manages to weave in moral questions, criticism and explorations of the human soul. And his characters range as far as his plots -- kings and princes, teenage lovers, proud but doomed men, bratty queens, the witty but combative Beatrice and Benedick, and even the puppet-master mage Prospero.
Shakespeare's "Complete Works" is a must-have for anyone who loves the English language -- his writing was unparalleled, and even his lesser plays are a cut above the rest.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
great
Bought this as a gift for my son and he hasn't put it down..just keeps re-reading it. Beautifully bound and very well made.
Published 1 day ago by Marguerite L. Gray
3.0 out of 5 stars
Needed Annotated
Very nice display Book, but realized I needed annotated, so I will try again to get what I really wanted.
Published 4 days ago by Carole Faraizl
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very nice addition
This is a very nice, leatherbound addition. For a facsimile reproduction, it is easy to read and looks very nice.
Published 18 days ago by Melissa Draper
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sonnets and plays
once upon a time I had this book in a different form ...but this leather bound book with gold and vibrantly colored accents is far better than the pervious one in my possession. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Marcus
5.0 out of 5 stars
What can I say its Shakespeare
What can I say but that it is Shakespeare in a more compact readable version. I've had to read Shakespeare before but it was a bulky volume with tiny lettering, this is much... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Michelle Williams
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Volume
This is a beautiful volume of the classics. I thought I had read everything Shakespeare wrote, but I found some new pieces in this volume.
Published 3 months ago by Mom of Four
5.0 out of 5 stars
Not exactly as pictured
It's all of Shakespeare's works. The genius of The Bard is not up for debate. This book, however, is not exactly what is pictured. The copy I got isn't as ornate or colorful. Read more
Published 3 months ago by J. Vodopija
4.0 out of 5 stars
William Shakespeare
The product was great - but found out after the fact that I could have purchased for a lesser amount locally.
Published 4 months ago by S. Ingegno
5.0 out of 5 stars
Met all my expectations
This was a gift for my granddaughter for Christmas. The book arrived on time and was packaged very well to protect the book. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Cathi Walters
5.0 out of 5 stars
perfect surprise
3rd Anniversay is leather? So, how do you get creative? Leatherbound books will do the trick, and what better for your Shakespeare-loving spouse? This was the perfect gift. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Leslie A Todd
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