Best Edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare?

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 6:00pm

Does anyone have any recommendation on which edition of Shakespeare's work would be best for studying the plays? This is just for my general enrichment, and possibly studying a role before performance (though I'd obviously need to buy individual editions of the plays to mark up for performance). I'm looking for reliable texts with good notes that would be relevant from a performance perspective vs. academic (although good academic background information would be helpful as well). These are the ones I have found:

- The Complete Pelican Shakespeare (2nd edition)

- The Riverside Shakespeare (1st or 2nd edition)

- Bevington's The Complete Works of Shakespeare (6th or 7th edition)

- The Norton Shakespeare

These are out of the running for me:
- The RSC Shakespeare (Modern Library), ed. Jonathan Bate and Eric Rasmussen: After reading some reviews of this recent release (especially Michael Dobson's review in the London Review of Books), it seems like the texts (based almost exclusively on the First Folio) would be rather quirky and inconsistent with other editions

- The Complete Arden Shakespeare: Doesn't have the notes that accompany the individual paperbacks, unfortunately

[rclocalz]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 6:08pm

At the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, they use the Riverside Shakespeare 2nd Edition in conjunction with the Lexicons and 1st Folio for reference.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 6:23pm

Thanks, rclocalz. The Riverside and the Pelican are at the top of my list right now. I hadn't thought of having the separate Lexicon volumes and an edition of the First Folio. I know the FF is useful for actors because the spelling and punctuation offer clues that modernized editions don't. Those might be useful additions I'll consider. :) Updated On: 8/31/13 at 06:23 PM

[aaronb]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 6:30pm

I was always assigned the Norton edition in college.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 7:33pm

How is the paper quality of the Norton? I remember using Norton anthologies for college and the paper was always onion-skin thin and ended up wrinkly because I have sweaty hands, lol. The notes and background information in those were always very good, though.

Updated On: 8/31/13 at 07:33 PM

[MyDogAteIt]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 7:56pm

I swear by the Bevington version. It's massive, but is beautifully organized and edited. Plus the essays before each play/poem are superb.

[aaronb]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 8:17pm

Yes, like those awful/fantastic Library of America editions, the Norton paper is pretty thin which can make underlining and writing in them somewhat frustrating. But the notes, as you said, are great.

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 8/31/13 at 10:54pm

Thanks all. Hm... this is going to be harder than I thought it would be, lol. I can see upsides and downsides to each edition.

[DEClarke]

Posted: 9/1/13 at 10:10am

My favorites are:

1.) G. B. Harrison's for Harcourt/Brace

2.) Bevington's Sixth Edition

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 9/1/13 at 10:52am

Don't know if you're an iPad user but the Shakespeare Pro app by Readdle looks impressive. It's packed and would certainly make a nice light supplement for those times you can't carry pounds of books.

Also, a plug for my favorite bard reference book, "Shakespeare After All" by Marjorie Garber.

[MyDogAteIt]

Posted: 9/1/13 at 3:09pm

"Shakespeare After All" is wonderful. Love love love it.

[aaronb]

Posted: 9/1/13 at 3:12pm

^^ Yes!

[MikeInTheDistrict]

Posted: 9/2/13 at 3:02pm

Thanks, everyone! I'll definitely be picking up "Shakespeare After All." I've listened to a few of Professor Garber's lectures on the Harvard open courseware site (link below), and found her very clear and insightful.

I managed to find a used copy of The Riverside at a secondhand bookstore for less than $10. It's the first edition, but the actual texts and footnotes are the same as in the second edition. I've settled on also buying the Bevington (probably the 6th edition, as it's cheaper), so I'll have two complete editions on hand. :) I remember Bevington being the editor of the Bantam Classics Shakespeare that we used to use in my high school classes and thought they were pretty good.


Shakespeare After All (Lectures) Updated On: 9/2/13 at 03:02 PM