Love's Labour's Lost: Signet Classic Shakespeare, Milton Glaser Cover, 1963 Ed
LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST — WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Signet Classic Shakespeare | 1965 | Third Printing | Vintage Paperback
A lovely vintage Signet Classic Shakespeare edition of William Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s Lost, one of the playwright’s earliest and most playful comedies. This scholarly edition was edited by John Arthos of the University of Michigan, with the Signet Classic Shakespeare series under the general editorship of Sylvan Barnet. The edition dates from 1965, and the copy pictured is specifically identified on its copyright page as the Third Printing. Bibliographical records confirm the Signet edition edited by Arthos was first published in 1965.
The play follows the King of Navarre and three of his companions, who swear to devote themselves to three years of study while avoiding women—only for their plans to unravel with the arrival of the Princess of France and her ladies. Filled with elaborate wordplay, mistaken identities, courtship and wit, the play offers Shakespeare’s characteristically clever examination of love, learning and human nature.
About This Edition
This is much more than a simple reading copy of the play. Designed for students and serious Shakespeare readers, the Signet Classic edition supplements Shakespeare’s text with substantial scholarly material. It includes John Arthos’s introduction, prefatory remarks on Shakespeare, notes on the sources of Love’s Labour’s Lost, a textual note and selected critical commentary.
Particularly interesting are essays and commentary by notable literary critics including Walter Pater, Northrop Frye and Richard David, giving the reader several perspectives from which to approach the comedy.
Book Details
Title: Love’s Labour’s Lost
Author: William Shakespeare
Series: The Signet Classic Shakespeare
Editor: John Arthos
General Editor: Sylvan Barnet
Publisher: The New American Library / Signet Classics
UK Publisher: The New English Library Ltd., London
Publication Year: 1965
Printing: Third Printing
Format: Vintage paperback / mass-market paperback
Language: English
Cover Illustration: Milton Glaser
Series/cover number: CD306
Original cover price: 3s. 6d.
Printed in: United States of America
The contents run to approximately 190 pages including supplementary material, with the play itself beginning on page 35 and critical and reference material continuing after the text. Cataloguing records for the 1965 Signet edition vary slightly in their pagination, which is common across different printings.
A Distinctive Milton Glaser Cover
An especially appealing feature for collectors is the illustrated front cover, credited to Milton Glaser. Its wonderfully stylised mid-century figures give this Shakespeare paperback a distinctly 1960s appearance and make it an attractive display piece as well as a reading copy.
Condition
Vintage pre-owned condition. The photographed copy displays age toning and general shelf wear, including rubbing and wear around the cover edges and corners. There are some marks and signs of handling consistent with a paperback of this age. Interior pages appear well preserved from the photographs. Please study the images carefully, as they form part of the condition description.
Why We Love It at Owl Books
This edition combines Shakespeare, mid-century book design and literary scholarship in one charming little volume. The distinctive illustrated cover gives it far more personality than a modern textbook edition, while the extensive introductions, notes and critical essays make it genuinely interesting for readers and students.
A wonderful addition to a collection of vintage Shakespeare, classic literature, Signet Classics or 1960s paperback design.