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https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/1619570655252-S779KV2ZHPBVYFDEOQ4N/iu.jpg Contact William Shakespeare 1564-1616 Shakespeare’s Sonnets Among His Private Friends Edited by Carl D. Atkins Published by Small Latin Press 2021 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/gulling-sonnet daily 0.75 2022-08-03 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/reading-list daily 0.75 2022-05-17 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/glossary daily 0.75 2022-05-18 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/copyright-details daily 0.75 2023-01-22 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/1619365821173-C3MT0O65FRV5VMRYKY5N/Page+1+Quarto+BL.png Copyright details - All content on this website is copyrighted and may not be reproduced or used for other than personal or educational purposes without express, written consent. For permissions, contact the author at SmallLatinPress@gmail.com. Thank you. https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/sonnets-1to25 daily 0.75 2022-03-20 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/sonnets-26to51 daily 0.75 2022-03-20 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/sonnets-52to75 daily 0.75 2025-10-14 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/sonnets-76to100 daily 0.75 2022-03-20 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/sonnets-101to125 daily 0.75 2022-03-20 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/sonnets-126154 daily 0.75 2022-03-20 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/introductory-notes daily 0.75 2023-01-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/1619559114021-GGZNW6J10JB7FMSIGZTX/title-page-shakespeare-s-sonnets-1609.jpg Introductory notes Title page of British Library copy of the 1609 Quarto of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/1619553229692-ZYOARI91FFF7IOYIX5FU/Page+1+Quarto+BL.png Introductory notes - Note on Reading the Text I have tried to depart from the original text, as printed in the Huntington-Steevens copy of the Quarto of 1609, as little as possible. I have emended only where it seemed absolutely necessary, and modernized only where it seemed both helpful and not harmful to the original intent. I have been particularly conservative in regard to punctuation, often retaining commas that would be omitted in modern usage but that point the way to proper scansion. I have used the usual convention of the accented “e” (é) to indicate pronunciation of the final -ed of past tense verbs as a syllable where we would elide. Verbs endings elided in the Quarto are printed in this text with ’d (they are variously represented in the Quarto as ’d, -d, -de, or -t). I have usually kept Shakespeare’s format for compound words, i.e., whether written as one word or two, or connected with a hyphen. For common words, where deviation from current forms seemed pointless, I have modernized. However, I have kept strictly to the original for words involving personal pronouns, e.g., thy self, my self, me thinks. Shakespeare almost always kept these words separate so that “my self” and “myself” or “me thinks” or “methinks” are homographs, and cannot be distinguished in the original except by context. Since this can, at times, affect meaning (cf. Sonnets 40 and 112) this conservatism is necessary to allow the reader freedom of interpretation. On the other hand, the form “an other” occurs several times and I have consistently printed this as “another” since it probably reflects nothing more than a peculiarity of Shakespeare’s handwriting. I have consistently maintained the capitalization and italicization of the Quarto (other than the convention used by the compositor of capitalizing the second letter of each sonnet), seeing no reason to change them. It seems perfectly sensible to assume that they serve to emphasize words (italicization more so than capitalization) and this often has a perceptible effect on the scansion. They should not be taken to indicate meaning. For example, the modern use of capitalization to indicate personaliztion of an impersonal noun, such as “Time,” is clearly not consistently implied by Shakespeare’s usage. For glosses of the text, see my book, Shakespeare’s Sonnets Among His Private Friends. To open the original 1609 Quarto of Shakespeare’s Sonnets from the British Library in a new page, click here. https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/privacy-policy daily 0.75 2023-01-22 https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/the-book daily 1.0 2026-03-26 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/1622381957910-RD242VQ96W0XMX9S1RIY/Front+cover.png Home - Shakespeare’s Sonnets Among His Private Friends The most readable edition of The Sonnets available. This book looks at The Sonnets through the story they tell of the relationships between the poet and his two loves. In addition to the usual explanation of difficult words and passages, the editor asks questions about what’s going on that don’t always have simple answers but add depth and intrigue to the story. “His sugared sonnets among his private friends.” That’s how Shakespeare’s Sonnets were described in the only contemporary reference to them in 1598 when they were most likely circulated in manuscript, eleven years before they appeared in print. Atkins invites you to imagine that you are among the friends our poet has allowed to see his new sonnets. You’ll read the poems and the discussion of each one, and together try to figure out the story. See what it might have been like to read Shakespeare’s Sonnets “among his private friends.” An indispensable book for any student of Shakespeare! Published by Small Latin Press. See back cover ORDER NOW ON AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, OR BOOKSHOP.ORG https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/about daily 0.75 2022-01-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/f416d5cd-a939-45bb-8431-36c68dd28de6/Author+image.jpg About - About the Author Carl D. Atkins has studied Shakespeare for decades. He published a variorum edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets in 2007 (only the fourth variorum edition since the Sonnets were printed in 1609) and has published two articles on the Sonnets and one on Measure for Measure, all in the respected journal, Studies in Philology. He has also recently published an article in Notes & Queries on Comedy of Errors. Dr. Atkins is a physician and graduated Phi Beta Kappa from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He has provided a FREE analysis of the meter of The Sonnets as a companion to his new book, Shakespeare’s Sonnets Among His Private Friends https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/studies-in-philology daily 0.75 2021-05-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/1619870724796-CBVGR6JOCMZA5G3FRRSN/Studies+in+Philology.png Studies in Philology - Atkins, Carl D. Spiders’ Strings and Ponderous Things: Solving a Crux in Measure for Measure. Studies in Philology 2010;107 (3):360-365. Atkins, Carl D. The Importance of Compositorial Error and Variation to the Emendation of Shakespeare’s Texts: A Bibliographic Analysis of Benson’s 1640 Text of Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Studies in Philology 2007;104 (3):306-39 Atkins, Carl D. The Application of Bibliographic Principles to the Editing of Punctuation in Shakespeare’s Sonnets. Studies in Philology 2003;100 (4):493-513. https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/back-cover daily 0.75 2022-03-20 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/81c12619-1f5a-4fbf-83dc-53b6d8161031/Back+Cover+Among+His+Private+Friends.png Back cover - Shakespeare’s Sonnets Among His Private Friends An exciting, innovative approach to Shakespeare’s Sonnets! “His sugared Sonnets among his private friends.” That’s how Shakespeare’s Sonnets were described in the only contemporary reference to them. This brings up the image of a talented, young poet getting together with friends to read his new sonnet cycle. Shakespeare’s Sonnets increase the reader’s interest by adding a love triangle to the usual tale of thwarted love and turning convention upside down. Working out all the possibilities of this intriguing story as the sonnets progress is all part of the fun. Atkins invites you to imagine you are among the friends our poet has allowed to see his new sonnets. You’ll read the poems and the discussion of each one as he helps you figure out their story. See what it might have been like to read Shakespeare’s Sonnets “among his private friends.” This book is complete with glosses of difficult words and phrases and a thorough explanation of each poem. Unique to this edition is a look at how the last 28 sonnets about a “dark lady” may have been influenced by Christopher Marlowe’s English translation of Ovid’s erotic poems, Amores (Book 1 of which is included in an appendix). There’s also a metrical analysis of the poems available free at www.amonghisprivatefriends.com. Author info Carl D. Atkins has studied Shakespeare for decades. In addition to the variorum of The Sonnets he edited in 2007 (only the fourth variorum edition since The Sonnets were printed in 1609), he has published two articles on The Sonnets and one on Measure for Measure, all in the respected journal, Studies in Philology. Return to home page Available NOW in hardcover ($20.99), paperback ($13.95) and ebook ($8.99). https://www.amonghisprivatefriends.com/king-lear daily 0.75 2022-11-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/6081b4aa53cb490da49e82a6/258c7039-9493-4b2d-97b2-035c491360de/King+Lear+page+1.jpg King Lear - The pdf of King Lear accessible below is an unpublished version I have edited using the original punctuation (with some exceptions, as explained in the preface). Please feel free to email me with any questions or comments at carlatkinsmd@gmail.com I would ask that you kindly not share this pdf without my permission.. Thank you.