Guides and databases: English: Shakespeare

Focus on Shakespeare

This page focuses on resources for the study of Shakespeare provided by UCL Library Services.

For details of the Shakespeare undergraduate module please consult the relevant Moodle pages, here is the online reading list for that module.

Primary Texts

UCL Main Library holds printed copies of multiple editions (eg Arden, Oxford, Cambridge) of the works of Shakespeare:

Collected works are located at ENGLISH HS 102.
Individuals plays are located at ENGLISH HS 110 - 299
The poetical works are located at ENGLISH HS 300 - 350

Modern online editions can be accessed using the following databases:

Cambridge Shakespeare: The Works and Worlds of Shakespeare Online
Provides access to the Cambridge works of Shakespeare together with a wealth of integrated reference material.
Drama Online
Provides access to the Arden single play editions.
Oxford Scholarly Editions Online
Provides access to the New Oxford Shakespeare Modern Critical Edition and Critical Reference Edition.

Historical online editions can be accessed using the following database:

Criticism

Use Explore to search for both print and online critical materials.

The following online resources contain full-text criticism about Shakespeare:

Cambridge Companions Online
A collection of ebooks from Cambridge University Press. Accessibility statement for Cambridge Core.
Cambridge Shakespeare: The Works and Worlds of Shakespeare Online
Includes the complete works of Shakespeare together with a wealth of integrated reference material and the entire collection of Shakespeare Survey. Accessibility statement for Cambridge Core.
Drama Online
Drama Online introduces new writers alongside iconic names in playwriting history, providing contextual and critical background through scholarly works and practical guides. Access includes the Bloomsbury & Faber Collection, Nick Hern Books, National Theatre Collection, RSC Live and Shakespeare's Globe on Screen.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
For biographical research
Oxford Scholarship Online
Full text of over 20,000 books from Oxford University Press. Accessibility statement for Oxford Academic.

If you need to be more comprehensive and search beyond what is available through UCL, the following bibliographies cover Shakespeare:

MLA International Bibliography See the LibrarySkills@UCL guide to EBSCOhost. International database on language, literature, linguistics and folklore.
Oxford Bibliographies UCL has access to the African Studies, American Literature, Anthropology, Architecture Planning & Preservation, Art History, Atlantic History, Biblical Studies, British and Irish Literature, Childhood Studies, Chinese Studies, Cinema & Media Studies, Classics, Communication, Criminology, Ecology, Education, Evolutionary Biology, Geography, International Law, International Relations, Islamic Studies, Jewish Studies, Latin American Studies, Linguistics, Literary & Critical Theory, Medieval Studies, Military History, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Renaissance & Reformation, Sociology, Urban Studies and Victorian Literature modules. Accessibility statement for Oxford Bibliographies Online.
Performing Arts Database (ProQuest) Previously entitled International Index to Performing Arts (IIPA) Full Text. Covering the arts and entertainment industry-including dance, drama, theatre, performance, opera, film and television.
World Shakespeare Bibliography Provides annotated entries for all important books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, theatrical productions, reviews of productions, audiovisual materials, electronic media, and other scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare and published or produced between 1960 and 2016.

Theatre productions online

Filmed theatre productions are available on DVD and within the following databases and websites:

BBC Shakespeare Archive Resource UCL users must register for an account with your UCL email and create a password. Features over 900 programmes from the BBC’s archive of Shakespeare’s plays, poems and sonnets
BoB (Box of Broadcasts) Access for UCL students and staff only. Access to BoB is only permitted within the United Kingdom. Requires login with UCL username and password. BoB is Learning on Screen’s on demand TV and radio service for education allowing users to record programmes from over 75 free-to-air channels, access over 2.2 million broadcasts dating back to the 1970s, create playlists, clips and clip compilations; search programme transcripts and subtitles; embed content in VLEs and share on social media
Digital Theatre+ Featuring filmed productions, practitioner interviews, and a wide range of written introductory/contextual materials. Including Digital Theatre's own recordings alongside collections such as the Shakespeare's Globe, the Royal Shakespeare Company, the BBC, Broadway Digital Archive, Eclipse, Royal Opera House, London Symphony Orchestra and LA Theatre Works audio radio-plays. Practitioner interviews exploring process, craft and technique with academics, playwrights and industry insiders and expert research resources such as encyclopedia entries, workshops, lectures and essays written by academics and industry insiders
Drama Online Provides access to RSC productions.
Kanopy Providing video streaming to over 26,000 films including thousands of award-winning documentaries, training films and theatrical releases. The collection includes a number of leading producers, such as the Criterion Collection, PBS, Kino Lorber, New Day Films, The Great Courses, California Newsreel, BBC and hundreds more. Accessibility statement for Kanopy.

MIT Global Shakespeares A freely available collaborative project providing online access to Shakespeare performances from many parts of the world.

Theatre in Video Streaming video of performances of more than 100 plays and 60 film documentaries, including the BBC Shakespeare Series. When complete, it will include more than 350 plays and documentaries from the 1930s onwards.

Digital Archive Collections on Shakespeare

The Library provides access to the following collections of historical documents about Shakespeare:

Shakespeare's Globe Archive: Theatres, Players & Performance
Documenting over 300 productions from 1997-2016, this digital collection is a critical resource for the study of Shakespeare, theatre, cultural history and early-modern literature.
Shakespeare in Performance: Prompt Books from the Folger Shakespeare Library
The prompt books from the Folger Shakespeare Library tell the story of Shakespeare’s plays as they were performed in theatres throughout Great Britain, the United States and internationally, between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.

Key Shakespeare resources

The New Oxford Shakespeare: Modern Critical Edition

The Complete Works: Modern Critical Edition is part of the landmark New Oxford Shakespeare--an entirely new consideration of all of Shakespeare's works, edited afresh from all the surviving original versions of his work, and drawing on the latest literary, textual, and theatrical scholarship.

The Arden Shakespeare Complete Works

The Complete Works contains the texts of all Shakespeare's plays, poems and sonnets, edited by leading Shakespeare scholars for the renowned Arden series. A general introduction gives the reader an overall view of how and why Shakespeare has become such an influential cultural icon, and how perceptions of his work have changed in the intervening four centuries.

The New Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare

Written by a team of leading international scholars, this Companion is designed to illuminate Shakespeare's works through discussion of the key topics of Shakespeare studies. Twenty-one essays provide lively and authoritative approaches to recent scholarship and criticism for readers keen to expand their knowledge and appreciation of Shakespeare.

The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare

The Oxford Companion to Shakespeare is the most comprehensive reference work available on Shakespeare's life, times, works, and his 400-year global legacy. In addition to the A-Z entries, it includes illustrations, a chronology, a guide to further reading, a thematic contents list, and special feature entries on each of Shakespeare's works. First published in 2001, the online edition was revised in 2011, reflecting developments and discoveries made in recent years.

How-to guides and videos about specific databases

How to use:

Further help

Short presentation video which explains this information further:

Shakespeare Resources from UCL Library
An introduction to resources for the study of Shakespeare provided by UCL Library, covers primary works, critical materials and theatrical productions.