Edited by the eminent A.R. Braunmuller, this thorough edition of King John--the first scholarly edition in almost fifteen years--makes a significant contribution to the study of Shakespeare's works. Braunmuller offers a wide-ranging critical introduction, which focuses on the play's political relevance in Elizabethan England, its relationship to legal issues of the day, its treatment of women and families, and its overall aesthetic importance in Shakespeare's early career. He also provides a richly detailed stage history, full annotations that are especially sensitive to the play's language and staging, and an ample bibliographical study of the Folio (1623) text. The most comprehensive and up-to-date edition of King John currently available, this book is an invaluable resource for Shakespearean scholars, students, and theatergoers alike.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Industry Reviews
The Oxford Shakespeare is an admirably scholarly edition, immaculately presented, offering close attention to possibilities of staging as well as meaning.'
Dr D. Sedge, Exeter University
'This edition offers the most substantial & one of the most penetrating discussions of the play to date. A remarkable scholarly achievement.'
Dr René J.A. Weis, Department of English, University College, London
`The major strength of Professor Braunmuller's edition is its introduction. He offers a sane review of such difficult questions as the date of the play, and such controversial ones as its relation to "The Troublesome Reign". The evidence is marshalled in a lucid manner and sensible conclusions drawn ... This is a significant contribution to the (now quickly developing) debate on "King John", and a good demonstration that investigations of Shakespeare as a
political dramatist (as opposed to a moral stage) need not be critically reductive.'
The Review of English Studies
'By its 'conventionally ordered introduction' (p.1), A.R. Braunmuller's Oxford King John signals that it is, indeed what the dustjacket claims, 'the most thorough scholarly edition now available' ... his edition foregrounds technical material important to scholars over more general interests ... Braunmuller's approach to editing is as fair-minded and scholarly as his introduction ... the King John that sets out the issues most fully and
fairly, the edition I want in my study, is Braunmuller's 'conventionally ordered', scholarly text.'
Virginia Mason Vaughan, Clark University, Worcester, Massachusetts, Yearbook of English Studies, 1992
