Botanical Shakespeare

A beautifully illustrated compendium of all the flowers, fruits, herbs, trees, seeds and grasses cited by William Shakespeare, the world's greatest playwright, complete with the companion quotes from all the plays and poems. In this stunning compilation, Shakespeare expert Gerit Quealy has collaborated with notable Japanese artist Sumi Hasegawa to create the first and only book that includes every plant mentioned in Shakespeare's works, along with a striking illustration.

The first section includes a brief look at Shakespeare's relationship to all the plants, illustrating his deep knowledge of the science of botanyas well as the colloquyand his unmatched skill for creating metaphorical connections and interweaving substantive philosophy. The heart of Botanical Shakespeare contains an entry for each flower, fruit, grain, grass, tree, herb, spice and vegetable that Shakespeare mentions in his plays and poems (170), and the origin of its reference/s, the specific text and characters that utter the lines, and a beautiful illustration.

There is also a dictionary describing each plant (Dewberry: sweet edible berries related to and resembling blackberries; the difference between apples and apple-john, etc.) and indexes that will list the botanical by play or poem, by character, and by genus. There has never been as comprehensive a collection (and with such exquisite art) of Shakespeare botanicals as Botanical Shakespeare, and one that includes such rich supplementary context on the Bard and on each plant.