A Midsummer Night's Dream - (Pelican Shakespeare) Annotated by William Shakespeare (Paperback)

About the Book

An annotated edition of Shakespeare's comedy in which young lovers enter a world of sprites and fairies, and an amateur play production entertains all; also includes essays on Shakespeare's theatrical world and his texts, and a scholarly introduction.

Book Synopsis

The acclaimed Pelican Shakespeare series, now in a dazzling new series design

Winner of the 2016 AIGA + Design Observer 50 Books 50 Covers competition

Gold Medal Winner of the 3x3 Illustration Annual No. 14

This edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream is edited with an introduction by Russ McDonald and was recently repackaged with cover art by Manuja Waldia. Waldia received a Gold Medal from the Society of Illustrators for the Pelican Shakespeare series.

The legendary Pelican Shakespeare series features authoritative and meticulously researched texts paired with scholarship by renowned Shakespeareans. Each book includes an essay on the theatrical world of Shakespeare's time, an introduction to the individual play, and a detailed note on the text used. Updated by general editors Stephen Orgel and A. R. Braunmuller, these easy-to-read editions incorporate over thirty years of Shakespeare scholarship undertaken since the original series, edited by Alfred Harbage, appeared between 1956 and 1967. With stunning new covers, definitive texts, and illuminating essays, the Pelican Shakespeare will remain a valued resource for students, teachers, and theater professionals for many years to come.

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Review Quotes

"Gorgeous new Shakespeare paperbacks."
--Marlon James, author of A Brief History of Seven Killings

"I have been using the Pelican Shakespeare for years in my lecture course--it's invaluable, the best individual-volume series available for students."
--Marjorie Garber, William R. Kenan, Jr. Professor of English and Visual and Environmental Studies, Harvard University

About the Author

William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in April 1564, and his birth is traditionally celebrated on April 23. The facts of his life, known from surviving documents, are sparse. He died on April 23 1616, and was buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford.

Russ McDonald is a professor of English in Goldsmiths College at the University of London. He is the author of The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare. He has served as a trustee of the Shakespeare Association of America and was a director of the Teaching Shakespeare Institute at the Folger Shakespeare Library.