“A Classic for the Elders”: Marketing Charles and Mary Lamb in the Nineteenth Century

Mary and Charles Lamb’s Tales from Shakespear (1807) is generally taken as the starting point for the subgenre of “children’s Shakespeare,” in that it is an adaptation of Shakespeare’s plays aimed at young children which promises to entertain as well as to educate its young readers. The Tales have never been out of print since 1807 and they continue to exert an influence over other authors who adapt Shakespeare for children, both in their choice of plays to adapt and in their translation of the plays from drama to prose. This essay considers the continuing legacy of the Lambs in the subgenre of children’s Shakespeare by examining the ways in which the Tales were repackaged and reissued for new generations of children in the Victorian and Edwardian periods. To this end, rather than focusing on the content of the Tales themselves, this essay instead considers the paratextual elements of later editions. By examining what has been added by successive publishers in the form of prefatory material, epilogues, footnotes, and cover artwork, this essay assesses how the marketing of Shakespeare to young people has changed during this period: what strategies have authors and publishers used to sell these books, and who is their target audience? How do these authors and publishers envision the relationship between the Lambs’ Tales and Shakespeare’s plays? Finally, what values are evident in these continued attempts to present Shakespeare to young people through Tales from Shakespeare?