Library Journal
This 1000-entry dictionary has a separate entry for every character in Shakespeare's plays, for people and places mentioned in the plays, and for playwrights, theaters, and actors from Shakespeare's time. There is an annotated bibliography but no index. A third of the book is taken up with three essays: a study of Shakespeare's life, "Theatre and Play Production in Shakespeare's Time," and the 32-page essay "Shakespeare's Major Poetry." The inclusion of the last in a book of this kind is odd: as a result, Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece get more space than Hamlet, King Lear, Macbeth, and Othello combined. The character entries are comprehensive and useful, but the rest is uneven in quality. Why, for example, list Finsbury, the most minor of references in I Henry IV, but not Eastcheap or Shrewsbury? Why a reference to Agincourt but not to Actium? Why an entry on John Donne but not on Thomas Kyd or John Lyly? In addition, the cross-referencing is poor. For example, there are separate entries on Ovid and Metamorphoses but nothing to indicate this. And anyone looking for information on the Earl of Essex had better know that his name was Robert Devereux; otherwise, they will search in vain. An adequate resource at best.-Bryan Aubrey, Fairfield, Ia.
Booknews
Some 1,000 alphabetical entries present information on Shakespeare's plays, characters, the theater of his period, and the man himself. Entries for each play contain plot summarizes, lists of characters, possible sources, and a stage history. Includes individual entries for every character in Shakespeare's plays, major sources of plays, and people and places mentioned in the plays, plus a short biography of the playwright, and essays on his sonnets and Elizabethan theater. Note: CiP shows the title as NTC's Dictionary of Shakespeare. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Sandy Whiteley
This book begins with lengthy introductory essays on Shakespeare's life, his poetry, and theater and play production in his time and an extensive bibliography. The main part of the book is made up of more than 1,000 alphabetically arranged entries on his plays and characters. For each play, there is a plot summary, a list of characters, discussion of the historical sources on which Shakespeare drew, and the early publishing history of the play. The entries for characters are briefer. For minor characters, a sentence identifies the play and the character's role in it; for more important characters, such as King Lear, entries are a paragraph in length. There are also entries for early theater companies, actors famous for Shakespeare roles, other playwrights of the period, and such theater terms as "masque" Libraries that bought the more detailed "Shakespeare A to Z: The Essential Reference to His Plays, His Poems, His Life and Times, and More" (Facts On File, 1990) will not need "The Shakespeare Dictionary", but those that couldn't afford that book will want to consider this inexpensive one.
