In making the selection for this beautifully presented anthology the editor has asked himself "What are the passages from Shakespeare’s plays and poems that are most attractive in their own right and that suffer least from being read out of context?" The result is a collection of some 200 of the finest examples of Shakespeare’s work as a literary artist, varying in length from a few lines to a complete scene and arranged according to subject matter.

          Shakespeare was the most protean of writers, so the range is great. Here we can experience Shakespeare’s extraordinary capacity to body forth in words the minds, hearts, and imaginations of kings and peasants, fools and wise men, warriors and page-boys, statesmen and common thieves; and we can hear quintessential expressions of admiration and vituperation, villainy and virtue, grief, joy, and despair. It is unlikely that a selection from the work of any other writer could represent so wide a range of human experience.