Looking for early 20th century book of 4 Shakespeare plays
October 16, 2019 10:25 AM Subscribe
I'm looking for an edition of 4 Shakespeare plays (Hamlet, King Lear, Othello, and Romeo & Juliet). This was likely published in the 1910s, but no later than 1916. Less likely, it could also have been published earlier (probably 1880s at the very earliest). The book was in English and it was likely published in England. Does anyone know how I can locate this book?
Is it this one? Shakespeare, William. Five Tragedies: Romeo and Juliet, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth, King Lear. Boston: Heath, 1916. http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/249166116
If it isn't you can do an advanced search on worldcat for books with the correct time period.
posted by interplanetjanet at 10:47 AM on October 16, 2019
If it isn't you can do an advanced search on worldcat for books with the correct time period.
posted by interplanetjanet at 10:47 AM on October 16, 2019
I found this one from the 1800s.
If this isn't it, you can save a search on ebay, and they'll tell email you if a match comes in. Search with Shakespeare and all four play names, then when books come up, check "antiquarian & collectible" on the left-hand side of the page. This will limit your finds to whatever older books they have, and you can see if any look like the one you want (I'm guessing this is a book someone you know used to own).
posted by FencingGal at 10:53 AM on October 16, 2019
If this isn't it, you can save a search on ebay, and they'll tell email you if a match comes in. Search with Shakespeare and all four play names, then when books come up, check "antiquarian & collectible" on the left-hand side of the page. This will limit your finds to whatever older books they have, and you can see if any look like the one you want (I'm guessing this is a book someone you know used to own).
posted by FencingGal at 10:53 AM on October 16, 2019
Other places you can look are archive.org and hathitrust.org.
For instance here's the same one I found on Worldcat on archive.org. There are probably several books that meet your criteria so you might need more info to narrow it down. The Arden Shakespeare was a popular edition so that could be it.
posted by interplanetjanet at 11:29 AM on October 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
For instance here's the same one I found on Worldcat on archive.org. There are probably several books that meet your criteria so you might need more info to narrow it down. The Arden Shakespeare was a popular edition so that could be it.
posted by interplanetjanet at 11:29 AM on October 16, 2019 [1 favorite]
All of these are good places to start, but unless you know the press/publisher and have a clearer sense of the date of publication you'll have a hard time finding a particular edition.
There are dozens (and dozens and DOZENS and dozens) of selected editions of several plays like this from before WWI; they were mostly put together for high schools in England, Canada, Australia/New Zealand/SA and the USA, as Shakespeare was central to most programs. These four tragedies sound like the 'tragedy' half of a comedy/tragedy split, again probably put together as a high school text. The Arden texts are usually single-play editions, unless the really early ones were multi-play.
posted by jrochest at 10:05 PM on October 16, 2019
There are dozens (and dozens and DOZENS and dozens) of selected editions of several plays like this from before WWI; they were mostly put together for high schools in England, Canada, Australia/New Zealand/SA and the USA, as Shakespeare was central to most programs. These four tragedies sound like the 'tragedy' half of a comedy/tragedy split, again probably put together as a high school text. The Arden texts are usually single-play editions, unless the really early ones were multi-play.
posted by jrochest at 10:05 PM on October 16, 2019
Response by poster: Thanks, everyone! I appreciate this may be an impossible task, but your thoughts have been helpful - I'll do some digging and see what I can find.
posted by Put the kettle on at 8:31 AM on November 9, 2019
posted by Put the kettle on at 8:31 AM on November 9, 2019
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by wenestvedt at 10:38 AM on October 16, 2019