The Taming of the Shrew (Folger Shakespeare Library (Prebound))

Folger Shakespeare Library

The world's leading center for Shakespeare studies

Each edition includes:

- Freshly edited text based on the best earlyprinted version of the play

- Full explanatory notes conveniently placed on pages facing the text of the play

- Scene-by-scene plot summaries

- A key to famous lines and phrases

- An introduction to reading Shakespeare's language

- An essay by an outstanding scholar providing a modern perspective on the play

- Illustrations from the Folger Shakespeare Library's vast holdings of rare books

Essay by Karen Newman

The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., is home to the world's largest collection of Shakespeare's printed works, and a magnet for Shakespeare scholars from around the globe. In addition to exhibitions open to the public throughout the year, the Folger offers a full calendar of performances and programs.

William Shakespeare was born in April 1564 in the town of Stratford-upon-Avon, on England’s Avon River. When he was eighteen, he married Anne Hathaway. The couple had three children—an older daughter Susanna and twins, Judith and Hamnet. Hamnet, Shakespeare’s only son, died in childhood. The bulk of Shakespeare’s working life was spent in the theater world of London, where he established himself professionally by the early 1590s. He enjoyed success not only as a playwright and poet, but also as an actor and shareholder in an acting company. Although some think that sometime between 1610 and 1613 Shakespeare retired from the theater and returned home to Stratford, where he died in 1616, others believe that he may have continued to work in London until close to his death.