

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;
font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif" lang="EN-US">Although often classed as one of
Shakespeare^s romantic comedies, this play is perhaps most remembered for its
dramatic scenes and for the odious character of Shylock who demands his ^pound
of flesh. Part of the "Barnes &amp; Noble Shakespeare" series, this
title features newly edited texts prepared by leading scholars from Great
Britain and America, in collaboration with one of the world^s foremost
Shakespeare authorities, David Scott Kastan of Columbia University. Together
they have produced texts as faithful as possible to those that Shakespeare
wrote.</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;
font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif" lang="EN-US">&nbsp;</span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif" lang="EN-US">About
the Author</span></b></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight:normal"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:107%;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif" lang="EN-US">William
Shakespeare</span></b><span style="font-size:10.0pt;line-height:
107%;font-family:&quot;Open Sans&quot;,sans-serif" lang="EN-US"> was born on 26 April 1564 in
Stratford-upon-Avon, United Kingdom. He was an English playwright, poet, and
actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and
the world^s greatest dramatist. He is often called England^s national poet and
the "Bard of Avon". He died on 23 April 1616, in Stratford-upon-Avon,
United Kingdom.</span></p>

