Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium of all the Flowers, Fruits, Herbs, Trees, Seeds, and Grasses Cited by the World's Greatest Playwright

What a graceful gift to the whole world Ms. Quealy has given us all. This is clearly the painstaking work of many, MANY years of expertise and the kind of in-depth, loving knowledge that only true scholars possess. What makes this book so special, though, is the way the author and illustrator make it so easy for all of us, whether new to Shakespeare or lovers since childhood, to jump in and appreciate some of the most beautiful, playful, Nature-born words AND gifts of the soil we human beings are lucky enough to share. This is the kind of book that someone needed to do but no one, 'til now, had the caring, loving and husbandring patience heretofore. Aren't we lucky, now in 2017 onwards! I've bought 4 copies already and everyone I've given this book to - they make PERFECT gifts - has loved it. The perfect spirit-restorer, too, to keep on your own shelves for many decades, to be returned to, with delight, whenever you're feelin' blue. Aaaahhh, the pictures! Heavenly. Balm. Almost more beautiful than their originals in Nature. Ms. Quealy has collected here, with such relaxed ease, in a marvelously fun, ORGANIZED (Yay) way, just about everything about the gentle, colorful, bountiful harvest of the abundant English countryside, which Shakespeare's kings, nobles, farmers, goofballs, maidens ... every character he wrote! has ever said about plants. WOW! Whether bitter as a nettle, sweet and yummy as a costard apple, medicinal as a yarrow. That's a LOT of grace. Thanks evermore, Gerit Quealy and Sumie Hasagawa-Collins! It's so hard to find Beauty nowadays, in a world so woefully cut off from Nature. You restore our collective spirit. Brava, bravi (female version: brave w/ an accent agu!) always.

Botanical Shakespeare: An Illustrated Compendium of All the Flowers, Fruits, Herbs, Trees, Seeds, and Grasses Cited by the World's Greatest Playwright by Gerit Quealy, and illustrator Sumie Hasegawa Collins is simply put, a beautiful book. If you love Shakespeare, this is a great book that highlights some of his most interesting quotes. If you love flowers, and all things botanical, this is a great book that delves deep into that area. If you are into great art, this is a great book, and if you are drawn to a combination of all of these things, this is the perfect book for you. This is not a sit down and read from cover to cover kind of book, but one that you can pick up, marvel at the beauty and read a few Shakespeare quotes. Simply gorgeous illustrations set this book apart, and the forward by Helen Mirren is a work of art in itself. A lovely book to keep out at all times to make it readily available to anyone who wants to peer inside, this book is highly recommended for a delightful diversion.

This book is a must have for anyone who loves Shakespeare, plants, flowers and/or gardening. You are treated to stunning watercolors of every plant in the mentioned anywhere in the Shakespeare canon alongside the quotes in which the plants appear, a lovely intro by no less than Helen Mirren and a wealth of knowledge written with humor and insight about Shakespeare's works and their relation to the botanical world with section titles like "Shakespeare, Plants and Sex". And after you treat yourself to a copy, think of what a great gift it is for others. My sister has already asked for it for Christmas and I've already bought it for her, along with another as a gift for someone else who will love it. Highly recommended!

Botanical Shakespeare is a book I bought to give away as a gift, but after it arrived I flicked through and now am compelled to keep this for myself and buy another to gift. The pages are beautifully printed with clear explanations about the various plants, and some stunning artwork. I’d never considered the association and subsequent meaning behind plants in Shakespeare’s work. Some philosophical musings, and others quite humorous, but always entertaining and insightful. Very much, for me at least, a coffee table book, but I’ve already found guests flipping through and conversations start associated with what they were also surprised to find. An excellent addition to any home.

Yes, this is a gorgeous volume. The illustrations are incredible, and pairing them with the quotations makes for wonderful browsing; the book is worth having on your shelf or coffee table for its beauty alone. But my favorite parts of this book are the revelations. Anyone familiar with Shakespeare's oeuvre-- theater fans, academics, and literary sleuths -- will appreciate Botanical Shakespeare's academic scholarship: Why peonies aren't pictured, which poison killed Hamlet (Hint: It probably wasn't henbane or hemlock), and how the wordplay around the medlar fruit should make high school students blush. And the writer makes the topic come alive as vividly as the illustrator does, so it's not, as she cleverly puts it, "All Latin and Fenugreek." As a bonus, the last page of the book provides a link to a thorough list of plants by play, by character, and by species. No botanist, teacher, florist, actor, autodidact, or curious reader should be without Botanical Shakespeare. Get thee to a bookstore! Or the convenient "Add to Cart" button!

Beautiful book! Very thorough and the typography and graphics are stunning. The cover is a nice canvas with embossing on the plant. Each page is just as pretty with small info blurbs about each reference. They are organized by book so if you were to look for one in particular it would be easy to find. My only complaint is that the book I received had a couple scratches to the cover and spine and on a book this pretty thats a shame.

Very pretty book inside and out.

I particularly liked the detailed references and the illustrations.

Libro con bellissime illustrazioni botaniche e meravigliose citazioni dalle opere di William Shakespeare. Con 207 pagine. Lingua inglese.

La edición está muy cuidada. El papel es de buena calidad y las ilustraciones maravillosas. El lomo está un poco estropeado. Merece la pena.

Shakespeare için en güzel kaynak kitaplardan bir tanesi. Tüm eserlerinde geçen bitkiler kategorize edilip sayfa sayfa toplanmış. Bitkilerin görselleri çok hoşuma gitti belki daha fazla olabilirmiş ama bu hali bile kesinlikle alınmaya değer.