Shakespeare Select Plays
Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (Classic Reprint)

Excerpt from Shakespeare Select Plays: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark<br><br>The story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, is told in the Historia Danica of Saxo Grammaticus, a writer who lived about A.D. 1150-1220, and wrote his work about 1180-1208. The earliest edition of it is that of Paris, 1514. The story as it there appear was incorporated in Belleforest's Histories Tragiques, of which the earlier volumes contained translations from the Italian of Bandello, and amongst them the tragical History of Romeo and Juliet. The fifth volume of these Histories, in which Hamlet first appears, was printed at Paris in 1570, and the story was thence translated is that of 1608, which is reprinted in Collier's Shakespeare's Library, vol. i., from the only perfect copy known, which is among Capell's books in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge. There were in all probability earlier editions, but none of these are known to have been preserve. The title of this book is 'The Hystorie of Hamlet. London: Imprinted by Richard Bradocke, for Thomas Pauier, and are to be sold at his shop in Corne-hill, neere to the Royall Exchange, 1608.<br><br>Between the story of Hamlet as it appears in this 'Hystorie' and the story as it appears in Shakespeare there are very marked differences. Except in the case of Hamlet himself an his mother, who is called 'Geruth' in the 'Hystorie,' there is no resemblance whatever between the names of the chracters in the 'Hystorie' and in the play. In the former, Hamlet's father is Horvendile, his uncle is Fengon, corresponding to Horvendillus and Fengo in Saxo Grammaticus.<br><br>About the Publisher<br><br>Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com<br><br>This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.