Sonnets & Poems of William Shakespeare (Flame Tree Collectable Classics) Hardcover – 6 Sept. 2022

This is a beautiful little book, and I looked forward very much to its arrival. I had expected it to contain the sonnets and also the many poems from the plays, as there are a lot of wonderful poetical passages and songs in them. It certainly has all the sonnets, but only 9 poems taken from 3 of the plays, together with a number of longer narrative poems (eg "Venus and Adonis). I have a Kindle collection which contains many superb poetical passages from the plays and had hoped for the same in this book. I must confess I was disappointed in the content. I have given it 5 stars for the quality, as I can't really blame the compiler for my expectations. It's a chance you have to take if you buy sight-unseen.

This Random House Value Edition (aka Gramercy Press) has such an attractive dark blue, gold embossed cover. It would look so nice on your bookshelf. But if you think you might ever want to *read* any of the works of Shakespeare: don't waste your money.Inside the attractive binding you find facsimile pages (*not* re-typeset by the publisher - and very difficult to read) of some 19th edition with archaic engravings. No introductory notes. No explanatory notes on difficult words. No bibliography for further study of the plays and poems. Not even a credit to the original editor - or an acknowledgement of the *date* of the original editorial work.Utility for beginning level students: none.Utility for advanced level students: none.Utility for scholars: less than none.Utility for its publisher: excellent (I'm sure the low price regularly snares buyers who don't go to the trouble to return the ook).RECOMMENDATION: Use the ten-fifteen dollars you would have spent on this volume to 1) buy a thorough edition of a specific play (e.g., Oxford, Routledge, or Cambridge editions or Cambridge School edition for high schoolers) or 2) save toward an edition of the complete plays that is respectably (modernly) edited such as the Arden (Routledge) edition (has only notes on difficult words) or the Addison-Wesley edition by David Bevington (with thorough notes and discussions that will deepen your understanding and appreciation of the works).BUT HOW BAD CAN IT BE AT THIS PRICE? This book is only useful to decorate a book shelf. Anyone who actually looks inside will be completely put off from further exploration of Shakespeare...