My List of Penguin Shakespeare B series

The complete works of William Shakespeare were published by Penguin books in 37 volumes between 1937 and 1959. The whole series was edited and prepared by Dr. G B Harrison, who also provided the notes for each volume.

The 37 volumes were numbered B1- B37, even though the Shakespeare series predated by one month the start of the Pelican series, which had been given the A numbers.

The first 21 volumes were published in red covers designed by Edward Young, who had designed all of the original Penguin covers. 

The series was renewed and completed by the publication of volumes B22 to B37 in a new black and white cover, designed by Jan Tschichold as part of the Penguin renovation project.

The first 18 volumes were published in one year; the remaining 19 volumes took a further 20 years to be published!

This is a list of the original Works of William Shakespeare published by Penguin Books that I have collected over the last 40 years or so. The list is presented as a complete list of books, with the ones I have in first Penguin edition in blue, the ones I have in Penguin reprint in brown and the ones I still am searching for in purple.

The Works of William Shakespeare in Penguin

22nd April 1937
B1.     Twelfth Night
B2.     The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
B3.     Henry the Fifth
B4.     The Tragedy of King Lear
B5.     As You Like It
B6.     A Midsummer Night's Dream


6th August 1937
B7.     The Tempest  
B8.     The Merchant of Venice
B9.     Richard the Second
B10.    Romeo and Juliet
B11.   Julius Caesar
B12.   The Tragedy of Macbeth

8th April 1938
B13.   Henry the Fourth, part one
B14.   Henry the Fourth, part two
B15.   Much Ado About Nothing
B16.   Othello
B17.   Anthony and Cleopatra
B18.   The Sonnets & A Lover's Complaint

September 1947
B19.   A Winter's Tale
B20.   The Tragedy of Coriolanus
B21.   The Tragedy of Troylus and Cressida


October 1951
B22.   The Taming of the Shrew

August 1953   
B23.   Love's Labour's Lost

November 1953
B24.   Richard the Third

June 1954
B25.   Measure for Measure

October 1955
B26.   The Comedy of Errors
B27.   All's well that Ends Well

February 1957
B28.   The Merry Wives of Windsor

September 1956
B29.   Timon of Athens

October 1956
B30.   Two Gentlemen of Verona  

May 1957
B31.   The Tragedy of Cymbeline

September 1957
B32.   The Life and Death of King John

February 1958
B33.   Titus Andronicus
B34.   Henry VIII

September 1958
B35.   Pericles

March 1959
B36.   Henry VI, parts one, two & three

September 1959
B37.   The Narrative Poems


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