Italo Calvino’s beguiling and mysterious Invisible Cities defies explanation. Dave McKean’s rich visuals illustrate the wondrous and impossible urban landscapes in a Folio edition that is introduced by Jeanette Winterson.
The Complete Plays
Illustrated by Neil Packer
Introduced by Gregory Doran
Foreword by Dame Judi Dench
First Printing
Discover the enduring legacy of Shakespeare The Complete Plays, initially published as a Limited Edition in 2023 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the First Folio and now available as a core edition. Featuring fabulous artwork by Neil Packer, a foreword by Dame Judi Dench and an introduction by Gregory Doran.
£220.00
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Editor’s Note
- James Rose, Editor
Shakespeare's plays have suffused our culture and language like no others. Using the most authoritative text to date, this spectacular set presents the complete plays of the Bard, featuring a personal foreword by Dame Judi Dench.
Inspired by the black-and-red playbills of the Elizabethan era, award-winning artist Neil Packer has created an illustration for each of the plays, alongside bindings that feature some of Shakespeare’s most famous characters. The three volumes are housed in a slipcase representing the Globe Theatre where the plays were first produced. This is the ultimate edition of the most important writings in the English language, and a timeless gift that will be handed down from generation to generation.
Step behind the scenes of Neil Packer's illustrations here.
Beautiful three-volume set
Bound in printed and blocked cloth
1,456 pages in total, type set in Caslon with a hand design version by Neil Packer as display
Printed in two colours throughout
43 illustrations in total
Silk ribbon markers
Printed paper slipcase
Sized at 11½˝ x 8˝
‘A body of work that has infiltrated our speech, our politics and our culture like no other. It is irreplaceable and joyous, and I have been obsessed with it since my first exposure aged just seven.’
- Dame Judi Dench, from her foreword
On 8 November 1623, the First Folio of Shakespeare’s plays was registered, uniting the great playwright’s work in a single printed collection for the first time, ensuring its preservation for centuries. Four hundred years later, in 2023, Folio celebrated this momentous anniversary with a sensational limited edition that sold out in record time. Now, we are excited to release the core edition, allowing those who missed the limited edition to experience this exquisite collection of Shakespeare's plays. Featuring a foreword by Dame Judi Dench, an introduction by Gregory Doran, formerly the RSC’s Artistic Director Emeritus, and 40 illustrations by Neil Packer, this edition is sure to captivate and delight.
This edition of The Complete Plays of William Shakespeare uses text from The Arden Shakespeare Third Series Complete Works, first published 2021 and edited by Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson, David Scott Kastan and H.R. Woudhuysen.
‘Without the First Folio we would have lost a world of words.’
- Gregory Doran, from his Introduction
Echoing the divisions in the First Folio; the plays are divided between three volumes – The Comedies, The Tragedies and The Histories. Uncluttered by notes, and with a generous setting, the 38 plays are beautifully readable and follow The Arden Shakespeare Third Series Complete Works – the most up-to-date and authoritative versions. Although the First Folio comprised 36 plays, both Pericles and The Two Noble Kinsmen are included for completeness.
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