Anthony and Cleopatra

This facsimile edition of Anthony and Cleopatra is taken from the large and handsome book known simply as the ‘First Folio’. This is the earliest collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays and was was printed in 1623, just seven years after his death.


For students of Anthony and Cleopatra, going back to these First Folio plays is an essential part of a more complete understanding of Shakespeare's work.


Eighteen of Shakespeare’s plays had already been published in the small, cheap format known as quartos during his lifetime, including such favourites as A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet and Romeo and Juliet. The First Folio added another eighteen, including Macbeth, The Tempest and Twelfth Night all of which are indispensable to the modern repertory. Without the First Folio only half of Shakespeare’s dramatic output would have survived.


Anthony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare's most famous tragedies and has been performed on stage and screen many times. It draws extensively from Plutarch's 'Lives of Noble Greeks and Romans'. Cleopatra must surely rank as one of the most compelling of Shakespeare's creations. The play was written some time between 1603 and 1607.


This is an eBookTreasures facsimile edition.