Mary Lamb

Tales from Shakespeare Mary Lamb

Tales from Shakespeare

FULLY ILLUSTRATED

Charles & Mary Lamb

Illustrated by Arthur Rackham

The following Tales are meant to be submitted to the young reader as an introduction to the study of Shakespeare, for which purpose his words are used whenever it seemed possible to bring them in; and in whatever has been added to give them the regular form of a connected story, diligent care has been taken to select such words as might least interrupt the effect of the beautiful English tongue in which he wrote: therefore, words introduced into our language since his time have been as far as possible avoided.

In those tales which have been taken from the Tragedies, the young readers will perceive, when they come to see the source from which these stories are derived, that Shakespeare's own words, with little alteration, recur very frequently in the narrative as well as in the dialogue; but in those made from the Comedies the writers found themselves scarcely ever able to turn his words into the narrative form: therefore it is feared that, in them, dialogue has been made use of too frequently for young people not accustomed to the dramatic form of writing. But this fault, if it be a fault, has been caused by an earnest wish to give as much of Shakespeare's own words as possible: and if the "He said," and "She said," the question and the reply, should sometimes seem tedious to their young ears, they must pardon it, because it was the only way in which could be given to them a few hints and little foretastes of the great pleasure which awaits them in their elder years, when they come to the rich treasures from which these small and valueless coins are extracted; pretending to no other merit than as faint and imperfect stamps of Shakespeare's matchless image.

Includes:

1. The Tempest

2. A Midsummer Night's Dream

3. The Winter's Tale

4. Much Ado About Nothing

5. As You Like it

6. The Two Gentlemen of Verona

7. The Merchant of Venice

8. Cymbeline

9. King Lear

10. Macbeth

11. All's Well that Ends Well

12. The Taming of the Shrew

13. The Comedy of Errors

14. Measure for Measure

15. Twelfth Night or what You Will

16. Timon of Athens

17. Romeo and Juliet

18. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark

19. Othello

20. Pericles, Prince of Tyre