Product Description

Hamlet was first printed in 1603, but within 20 years two
further texts had appeared. All previous editors have constructed a single
play out of at least two of these three early texts. Ann Thompson and Neil
Taylor edit each separately, in modern spelling and with its own
explanatory notes.

This is the core of the three-text edition and is a self-contained,
free-standing volume, giving readers the Second Quarto text (1604/5). In
its Introduction, Commentary notes and Appendices, it includes all the
reader might expect to find in any standard Arden edition.

As well as containing a full, illustrated Introduction to the play's
historical, cultural and performance contexts and a thorough survey of
critical approaches to the play, the volume contains an appendix containing
the additional passages found only in the 1623 text.

Scholars, students and theatre practitioners will welcome the opportunities
offered by this break from the traditional, conflated editions to see how
different the Hamlets experienced by Shakespeare's contemporaries were.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3730 in Books
• Published on: 2005-06-01
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 613 pages

Stanley Wells, The Observer
Hamlet's latest editors have undertaken a heroic task with great
skill and thoroughnesss

Professor James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
The new Arden Hamlet is a pathbreaking edition, one that promises
to change irrevocably our understanding of Shakespeare's greatest play

Eric Rasmussen, Shakespeare Survey
An extraordinary achievement and milestone in the recent history
of version-based editing... Indeed, this is version-based editing at its
best.

Customer Reviews

Arden Shakespeare
In some respects I think it'd be rather presumptuous of me to attempt to review Shakespeare. Someone so well known and influential wouldn't benefit from my opinions on their work, plus there are more scholarly and concise reviews out there. But I can comment on these Arden versions. Of all the Shakespeare I've read I've always found the Arden copies to be well laid out and to have excellent commentary and notes on the text. They really add to your understanding of Shakespeares outstanding plays and introduce you to the depth in his work. They have superb paper quality and are bound well, withstanding repeated readings and intensive study. For your collection of Shakespeare you can't do much better than Arden publications, some are quite hard to get hold of but it's worth the effort.