"Tales From Shakespeare" Taken from the last flap of the book:
"Tales from Shakespeare, 'published in 1807, is written by Charles Lamb in collaboration with his sister, Mary Lamb. The authors believed that if the plays of Shakespeare were rendered in the form of a narratisve it would have a moralising effect on the mind of the young readers and teach them lessons of courtesy, benignity, generosity and humanity. They thus retained much of Shakespeare's own words while retelling the tragedies and used dialogues while writing the comedies so as to keep the spirit of the Shakespearean plays in the tales. They intended the book to be read by young children and young ladies as this section of the then society did not have access to Shaespeare in the original form. Today "Talesfrom Shakepeare,' is popularly read by young and old as an introducation to the plays of Shakesperare.