Shakespeare’s Sonnets: The Complete Illustrated Edition

Reviewing Shakespeare’s Sonnets: The Complete Illustrated Edition presents somewhat of a dilemma as the sonnets aren’t really the question. I’m fairly certain that if I said anything about them other than how splendid they are I would be booed off my literary soapbox. So instead I’m going to focus on what makes this compilation unique. Of course, it is a complete collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets, but, again, this has been done before. Successfully, I might add. However, if you find yourself somehow with an incomplete home library—how could your collection be considered complete without Shakespeare’s sonnets?—this might just be the edition you select to fill the unfortunate void.

This edition of the sonnets is one to savor. From the textured cover to the gorgeous color scheme within, everything adds to the experience of reading the well-known poems. The collection alternates between pairs of sonnets, sonnets coupled with artwork (each image as famous as the literature it sits beside), and a two-page spread of paintings. There is a beautiful interaction between the text and the artwork and it begins to reshape how you interpret the poems you’ve seen so often before. The art includes such iconic paintings as da Vinci’s Mona Lisa and Ophelia by John Everett Millais (if you’re not an art aficionado, there is a list of images at the back) and would have made a great compilation even without the sonnets to bolster its repute to a literary audience.