British Library
William Shakespeare in quarto homepage The basics about Shakespeare and the quartos Background on Shakespeare's life and works The afterlife - how Shakespeare's plays have changed Compare the texts Expert views on selected Shakespeare works References on Shakespeare Links to Shakespeare related sites Glossary

On this site you will find the British Library’s 93 copies of the 21 plays by William Shakespeare printed in quarto before the theatres were closed in 1642.
Background information on Shakespeare's life and works

Background information
In the Background section you can find out about William Shakespeare, his works, his theatre world and the printing of his plays. Other web resources appear in our Links section, with further reading in References. You can also view a Timeline.
     
The afterlife - how Shakespeare's play have changed

The afterlife

In the Afterlife section you can see how Shakespeare's plays have changed in print and in performance, from the re-opening of the theatres in 1660.
The texts

The texts

In the Texts section you can view and compare our 93 copies of the 21 Shakespeare plays.
 
  See other treasures in full OTHER TREASURES IN FULL
You will find this site useful if you are interested in:

Elizabethan and Jacobean England
English drama
The history of books and reading
The history of printing and publishing
The life of William Shakespeare
The works of William Shakespeare
Theatre history

New to the Quartos?

Or want to refresh your knowledge? We have a Basics section to get you up to speed.
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Did You Know?

Did you know?

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