New Penguin Shakespeare

Printed in paperback the editions were very popular in schools where they were used for teaching Shakespeare.

The "New Penguin Shakespeare" series ("NS") was edited by Terence Spencer and started in April 1967 with NS1 Romeo and Juliet.

"Each volume has been prepared from the original texts and includes an introduction, a list of further reading, a full and helpful commentary, and a short account of the textual problems of the play.

The covers for 31 of the first series featured woodcut print illustrations by English artist David Gentleman that placed his distinctive bold designs on a white background with the title in a simple Helvetica font.

Venus and Adonis, Titus Andronicus and Cymbeline were not published in the series and the latter two were not published until 2001 and 2005 respectively in the current "Penguin Shakespeare" (with cover designs by Clare Melinsky) that superseded the New Penguin Shakespeare series.