Tales from Shakespeare
1807 children's book by Charles and Mary Lamb / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Tales from Shakespeare is an English children's book written by the siblings Charles and Mary Lamb in 1807, intended "for the use of young persons"[1] while retaining as much Shakespearean language as possible.[2] Mary Lamb was responsible for retelling the comedies and Charles the tragedies.[3] They omitted the more complex historical tales, including all Roman plays, and modified those they chose to retell in a manner sensitive to the needs of young children, but without resorting to actual censoring. However, subplots and sexual references were removed.[3] They wrote the preface together.
Author | Charles and Mary Lamb |
---|---|
Country | Great Britain |
Language | English |
Genre | Fiction Children's literature |
Publication date | 1807 (first printing) |
Marina Warner, in her introduction to the 2007 Penguin Classics edition, claims that Mary did not get her name on the title page till the seventh edition in 1838.[4]
Despite its original target audience, "very young" children from the early twenty-first century might find this book a challenging read, and alternatives are available. Nevertheless, the retelling of the Lamb siblings remains uniquely faithful to the original[3] and as such can be useful to children when they read or learn the plays as Shakespeare wrote them.[5]