Tales From Shakespeare

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, brother and sister Charles and Mary Lamb existed at the epicenter of the British literary scene, presiding over a literary circle in their native London and highly regarded by poetic luminaries such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. With Lamb’s Shakespeare — also known as Tales from Shakespeare — the siblings sought to make the words of the Bard accessible for all who could enjoy and benefit from them, particularly the new generation of young children and students.

Published in 1807, the book offers interesting insight into the shifting interpretations and perceptions of William Shakespeare’s work over the years. Shakespeare’s popularity would soar in the 19th century, perhaps in part due to the influence of this volume on the British education system. The book’s authors led successful literary careers but struggled with mental illness their entire lives — Mary would even murder her mother, Elizabeth, during a particularly severe episode. However, it is this collection for which they are most often remembered.

Stories include: The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Winter’s Tale, Much Ado About Nothing, As You Like It, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merchant of Venice, Cymbeline, King Lear, Macbeth, All’s Well that Ends Well, The Taming of the Shrew, The Comedy of Errors, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, or, What You Will, Timon of Athens, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, Othello, Pericles, and Prince of Tyre.