SHAKESPEARE FOR CHILDREN

Charles [and Mary] Lamb. Tales from Shakespeare.  1807. First edition.       [First issue with paper watermarked 1806].

 Given the frequent allusions to madness in the works of Shakespeare, it is perhaps rather apt that the most famous miniature versions of the bard’s stories should have been put together by a brother and sister whose lives were dominated by acts of insanity.  Mary Lamb in such a lapse of reason killed their mother and Charles was mentally deranged for some time 1795-96, leaving him in fear for his mind until his death in 1834.

 Their adaptations do not include all the plays (the Henrys are omitted) and crucial elements of plots are expurgated to make the stories more palatable for children.