The William Shakespeare Collection Ebook

Since William Shakespeare was born so long ago, not many facts remain to build a complete biography on. The few facts that there are used to try and fill in the gaps of Shakespeare's life. For example, records show that William Shakespeare was baptized April 26th, 1564 in Stratford-Upon-Avon in Warwickshire, England. It was the common practice at that time (because of the high infant mortality rate) to baptize babies three days after they were born. Thus, Shakespeare's birthday is said to be April 23rd. We also know that Shakespeare's parents, Mary Arden Shakespeare and John Shakespeare (a prosperous glover), also had seven other children- two girls that were born before William died in their infancy, then came William, the eldest boy, followed by Gilbert, Joan, Anne, Richard, and Edmund. Anne also died during her childhood. William probably went to the local grammar school for his education and no one is sure what he did immeaditely after school, but he would have normally been apprenticed to his father at his glover's shop.

The next definite fact we have for Shakespeare's life is his marriage to Anne Hathaway, the daughter of a local farmer, in 1582. In 1583, Anne gave birth to a daughter, and in 1585, to twins-one boy and one girl. Unfortunately, the boy didn't survive much longer after his birth. The Shakespeares moved to London around 1588, and William started his career with the stage- as an actor (or a "player"). By 1592, he had made his name as a playwright. Also in 1592, all the theatres were closed because of the plague and didn't reopen until 1594. During this time, Shakespeare wrote. Venus and Adonis (his first major work) was published in 1593, followed by The Rape of Lucrece in 1594- two narrative poems. Also during this time, the sonnets were written. Starting in 1594, Shakespeare started to act and write for the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men with the acension of James I in 1603), an acting company. He became a shareholding director of the company's new Globe Theatre in 1598. In 1603, the King's Men were also able to buy Blackfriars theatre.

Shakespeare was such a success and invested his money wisely, so he was able to retire in 1610 in Stratford-Upon-Avon. However, he continued to write until 1613. He died in 1616, on his approximate birthday, and has 37 plays in print today.

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E-book Titles:  

1. All's Well That Ends Well
2. A Midsummer-Night's Dream
3. As you Like it
4. Julius Caesar
5. Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
6. King Lear
7. Much Ado About Nothing
8. Measvre, For Measure
9. Romeo and Juliet
10. The Merry Wives of Windsor
11. The Comedie of Errors
12. The Taming of the Shrew
13. The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra
14. The Tempest
15. The Tragedie of Cymbeline