Shakespearean Study

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The mission of the Shakespeare Resource Center is simple: help people who need to research Shakespeare. This guiding principle has been the reason for the site's continued existence since 1997.

This page gets to the heart of that mission. There are many fine resources available out there on the Internet for those studying Shakespeare. There are a select few that are indispensible (besides this one, of course). While nothing will replace a visit to your local library, you can learn a lot about Shakespeare, his works, and his life and times through these websites.

For this page, the editor has selected Web resources based on the following criteria:

  • Academic/educational focus
  • Institutional affiliation
  • Scope of information
  • Consistent presence on the Internet
  • Cost-free access to information

The sites are presented below in alphabetical order rather than any particular rank.

Study Links

Bartleby.com: Shakespeare
Shakespeare reference page at Bartleby.com, publisher of thousands of free online classics of reference, literature, and nonfiction.
Encyclopædia Britannica's Guide to Shakespeare
A wonderful overview of the Bard, and a great place to begin studying Shakespeare on the Web.
Folger Shakespeare Library
The Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, DC, is home to the world's largest and finest collection of Shakespeare materials and to major collections of other rare Renaissance books, manuscripts, and works of art.
Furness Shakespeare Library (University of Pennsylvania)
The Furness Shakespeare Library is an online collection of primary and secondary sources, including both texts and images, that illuminate the theater, literature, and history of Shakespeare, Shakespearean texts, theatrical production, and criticism.
Internet Public Library: Shakespeare Bookshelf
The Internet Public Library has an entire section dedicated to online Shakespeare editions and commentary.
Internet Shakespeare Editions
A non-profit corporation affiliated with the University of Victoria, the Internet Shakespeare Editions provides published works for the student, scholar, actor, and general reader.
Mr. William Shakespeare and the Internet
Terry Gray's complete annotated guide to the scholarly Shakespeare resources available on Internet.
Royal Shakespeare Company - Education
A colllection of Shakespeare education resources available from the RSC.
Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Research Materials
The organization that oversees the Shakespearean properties in Stratford and the surrounding area, including the Birthplace Museum.
SHAKSPER: The Global Electronic Shakespeare Conference
SHAKSPER is the international electronic conference for Shakespearean researchers, instructors, students, and those who share their academic interests and concerns.
Touchstone
Touchstone is an online tool for Shakespeare research in the United Kingdom presented by the Shakespeare Institute Library, in partnership with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, and Birmingham Central Library.
William Shakespeare in Quarto Archive
This British Library archive is a digital collection of the 21 known pre-1642 quarto editions of William Shakespeare's plays.