Venus and Adonis

Title: Venus and Adonis

Writer: William Shakespeare

Binding: Paperback

EAN: 9789028260597

Condition: Good

Please note: Below is a general description of how we classify our condition types. If you would like a more precise picture or have specific questions, please send us a message and we will be happy to look into it for you.

Condition descriptions:
- As New: Hardly any signs of use, almost as new.
- Good: May show minor signs of use, such as some discoloration or a name on the endpapers, but generally no underlining or notes in the text.
- Fair: Book in fair condition. May show signs of use, such as discoloration, reading creases in spine, underlinings, notes, light soiling at edges, dog-ears, or a crooked spine.
- New: Book is new.

Description:
Shakespeare's version of the myth of Venus and Adonis. Shakespeare wrote two long, dramatic poems which were published in book form in 1593 and 1594, 'Venus and Adonis' and 'The Rape of Lucrece'. Dramatic poetry was held in much higher esteem by the reading public, the elite, than the theatre, which was seen as popular entertainment. These two poems had an unprecedented success. During his lifetime, eight editions of 'Venus and Adonis' and six of 'The Rape of Lucrece' appeared. The two dramatic poems are less read today than the plays, while they belong to the best that Renaissance poetry has produced. They are unique in their combination of brainpower, civility, rhetorical ingenuity and beauty of form. Compared with contemporary Renaissance poets from Germany, the Netherlands and France, Shakespeare far surpasses them. Martinus Nijhoff Prize winner Peter Verstegen acquired great fame as a translator of Nabokov, Baudelaire, Dickinson and Shakespeare's Sonnets. 'The Rape of Lucretia', also translated by him, will be published in the spring of 2015.