Henry VI Part I (Folger Shakespeare Library) [Mass Market Paperback]

William Shakespeare (Author), Dr. Barbara A. Mowat (Editor), Paul Werstine (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: February 19, 2008 | Series: Folger Shakespeare Library

Each edition includes:

• Freshly edited text based on the best early printed version of the play
• Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play
• Scene-by-scene plot summaries
• A key to famous lines and phrases
• An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language
• An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play
• Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books

Essay by Phyllis Rackin

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs. For more information, visit www.folger.edu.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

William Shakespeare was born on April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—their older daughter, Susanna, and the twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood.

The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent, not in Stratford, but in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He had a successful career in London as a playwright and actor and was a shareholder in the acting company the Lord Chamberlain's Men, later known as the King's Men. He produced most of his plays between 1589 and 1613. Sometime between 1610 and 1613, Shakespeare is thought to have retired from the stage and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (February 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671722662
• ISBN-13: 978-0671722661
• Product Dimensions: 4.1 x 1 x 6.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #249,810 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He was one of eight children born to John Shakespeare, a merchant of some standing in his community. William probably went to the King's New School in Stratford, but he had no university education. In November 1582, at the age of eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway, eight years his senior, who was pregnant with their first child, Susanna. She was born on May 26, 1583. Twins, a boy, Hamnet ( who would die at age eleven), and a girl, Judith, were born in 1585. By 1592 Shakespeare had gone to London working as an actor and already known as a playwright. A rival dramatist, Robert Greene, referred to him as "an upstart crow, beautified with our feathers." Shakespeare became a principal shareholder and playwright of the successful acting troupe, the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later under James I, called the King's Men). In 1599 the Lord Chamberlain's Men built and occupied the Globe Theater in Southwark near the Thames River. Here many of Shakespeare's plays were performed by the most famous actors of his time, including Richard Burbage, Will Kempe, and Robert Armin. In addition to his 37 plays, Shakespeare had a hand in others, including Sir Thomas More and The Two Noble Kinsmen, and he wrote poems, including Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece. His 154 sonnets were published, probably without his authorization, in 1609. In 1611 or 1612 he gave up his lodgings in London and devoted more and more time to retirement in Stratford, though he continued writing such plays as The Tempest and Henry VII until about 1613. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford. No collected edition of his plays was published during his life-time, but in 1623 two members of his acting company, John Heminges and Henry Condell, put together the great collection now called the First Folio.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Shakespeare in a massmarket paperback April 5, 2010

By Cloud Dreamer VINE™ VOICE

Format:Mass Market Paperback

I liked the idea of a Shakespeare in the hand rather than on the internet. The editors supplement the play with annotations, analysis, illustrations, and summaries. The explanations are on the left, the play is on the right. For me, the definitions exceeded the need; but the book has to serve everyone, though the Shakespearean scholars read the original language of Shakespeare in the first Folio. Now, I am looking for the edition of 2H6 and 3H6. The negative of the New Folger Shakespeare in a Washington Square Press paperback is the print--the size and the sharpness. Since I'm looking for the rest of Henry, the edition is serving the purpose.

3.0 out of 5 stars A review of the play, not a specific edition: April 16, 2013

By James Yanni

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is definitely a second-tier Shakespearean play, about on a par with "Henry V". It has no noteworthy lines, although the language is, as always in Shakespeare, very pretty (and very difficult for a modern reader to parse, but that's another issue; I assume that anyone considering reading this has some experience with Shakespearean language, and knows whether they have difficulty with his language as this is certainly not the first play of his that a reader is likely to consider tackling.) As in most of his "histories", the actual history has been largely sacreficed to dramatic license; the story gives a very basic background of the beginnings of the wars of the roses, but it would be a mistake to take any specific event in the story as historically confirmed. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this play is that is gives us a look at the English perspective on Joan of Arc, which is certainly a very different perspective than we're used to seeing.

If you love Shakespeare, it's worth tracking down a copy of this play; it's definitely a lesser-known play but still definitely Shakespeare. But until you've read the better-known plays, don't bother with this one; there is a reason that the better-known plays are better-known. They're better.