Romeo and Juliet: The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare Paperback - 2009

About this book

From the jacket flap

(back cover)
" aBut, soft! what light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.a
" When teenagers Romeo and Juliet meet at a masked ball, itas love at first sight. But Romeo is a Montague and Juliet a Capulet a and the two families are sworn enemies. Watch tragedy unfold as the astar-crosseda lovers try to overcome the obstacles ahead of them. Perhaps the most famous love story of all time, Shakespeareas classic is brought to life in this exciting graphic novel.
(front flap) The enmity that simmers between the Veronese houses of Montague and Capulet comes to a head in a street fight that is halted by the Prince of Verona. Although open fighting has ended, hatred persists between the families. But when Lord Montagueas son Romeo falls in love with Juliet, the daughter of Lord Capulet, the kindly Friar Laurence hopes to bring the families together through their childrenas marriage. All goes wrong when Romeo is impelled to kill Julietas cousin Tybaltathe first of several killings that concludes with the deaths of Romeo and Juliet.
" aFor never was a story of more woe Than this of Juliet and her Romeo.a

First Edition Identification

It is unknown when Shakespeare originally wrote the play, sometime between 1591 and 1595. Romeo and Juliet was first published as an unauthorized quarto in 1597, transcribed by actors who had performed it. A quarto is a small, inexpensive book, each printed sheet folded twice to produce eight pages, often sold in flimsy bindings or none at all. The first quarto was published by John Danter, who printed the first four sheets (his name appears on the imprint), and Edward Allde printed the final six sheets. The first published edition declared '"AN EXCELLENT conceited Tragedie of Romeo and Juliet, As it hath been often (with great applause) plaid publicly." The first extant direct record of the events of a production refer to a 1662 staging, in which the play was probably adapted or altered--adaptation was particularly popular in the 17th century. The first quarto edition is known as "Q1" and is considered a "bad quarto," as it contains numerous errors and textual inconsistencies. It is over one-fifth shorter than the second edition and includes linguistic and theatrical differences. There are five known copies of the Q1 of Romeo and Juliet. 

Other editions appeared later, but even the more authoritative versions, such as that of 1599--probably drawn from Shakespeare's manuscript copies--lack the detailed stage directions present in the actors' transcription; thus, modern editions incorporate several sources. 

The second quarto edition, known as "Q2," was published in 1599 and is considered the authoritative text. It includes a prologue and epilogue that were absent in Q1 and several other changes to the text. It is about 800 lines longer than Q1, and the title page claims it is the "Newly corrected, augmented, and amended" text.

In 1609 the text of the Q2 was reprinted, and referenced as the Q3. It was also reprinted in 1622 (Q4) and 16377 (Q5). It was also included in Shakespeare's First Folio, a collection of Shakespeare's plays published in 1623, seven years after his death. The First Folio version of the play is primarily based on the Q3 text but also includes a few additional lines and stage directions, some taken from theatrical prompt books and Q1. Other editions of the play were included in Folio 2 (1632), Folio 3 (1664), and Folio 4 (1685).