William Shakespeare (1564-1616) is considered by many to be the greatest dramatist of all time. Some of Shakespeare's plays, such as Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet, are among the most famous literary works in the world. These and other of his plays are regularly studied by high school and college students. This guide will help you find information about Shakespeare, his plays and the time he lived.
You can find books and plays, plus compact discs in the Humanities Department of the Central Library.
There are a number of Web sites that can provide a great deal of information on Shakespeare:
Encyclopaedia Britannica’s Guide to Shakespeare
Includes information on the man, his plays, the Elizabethan world, and an Internet guide to lead you to additional Web resources.
Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet
An invaluable resource that also serves as an annotated guide to many of the more scholarly sources available on the Internet.
Presents a brief biography and a list of links to other Internet sites.
Timelines:
Chronology of the Shakespearean World, 1543–1700
The Plays
The Complete Works of William Shakespeare
Databases:
Literature Resource Center
The Enoch Pratt Free Library subscribes to the Literature Resource Center. This database is accessible in all Pratt Library Locations, or from home with your library card. It provides access to criticism, biographies, bibliographies, work overviews, and periodical articles and includes the Gale Literary Index, an index to the literature reference books published by Gale.
The Poems:
One of the greatest challenges in reading Shakespeare is the language used. Shakespeare is credited by the Oxford English Dictionary with the introduction of nearly 3,000 words into the language.
Reading Shakespeare's Language
Web sites:
Shakespeare Pictures at Absolute Shakespeare
Shakespeare’s World at Emory University
Emory University has two useful Shakespeare image sites. Shakespeare & the Players is a collection of postcards that you can access by play title, actor, or character. Shakespeare Illustrated is an index to nineteenth-century paintings of scenes from his plays.
If you would like to know more about our Shakespeare materials, e-mail us through our Ask-A-Librarian service, call us at (410) 396-5487 or mail your questions to:
Humanities Department
Enoch Pratt Free Library
State Library Resource Center
400 Cathedral Street
Baltimore MD 21201
© Enoch Pratt Free Library, Baltimore, Maryland.
