Tales from Shakespeare: With 29 Illustrations by Sir John Gilbert Plus Notes and Authors’ Biography (Aziloth Books)

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First published in 1807, Tales from Shakespeare derives from Charles and Mary Lamb’s great love of, and familiarity with, Shakespearean drama. This collection of plays was written to introduce young readers to Shakespeare and to encourage them to read his works in their original form. The authors selected twenty of the famous bard’s thirty-seven plays and employed a prose style that is true to the tone and language of the Elizabethan era, occasionally interweaving a verse or two in the text to give a taste of the real thing.

Shakespeare’s skill at distilling time-honoured themes of love, envy, avarice, honour, nobility and mercy is showcased within plots that are funny, tragic or romantic - and often in a combination of all three. There are mischievous characters up to comic pranks, while others endure painful transformations: from trusting and loving to doubtful and jealous, from honourable and trustworthy to villainous and unreliable - but then, in a climactic epiphany, find their way back to their true selves. Or sometimes not, as in the case of the more violent and bloody tragedies like Macbeth.

The Lambs’ abridged version of Shakespeare’s plays are riveting stories in themselves and to this day children and adults alike are drawn to their first taste of Shakespeare via this enjoyable introduction.