Hamlet, Prince of Denmark. Sonnets. Romeo and Juliet

Translation from English by Boris Pasternak and Samuil Marshak. Savva Brodsky, an architect by profession, illustrated several dozen books. He often approached graphics as an architect — he built and constructed the very artistic space of the printed publication. Illustrating Shakespeare in the early 1980s, Brodsky staged a real book spectacle. The characters are arranged in mise-en-scenes against the backdrop of the diminishing arches of the castle of Danish kings or an Italian Renaissance city. "The audience can see all the characters at once, but some of them come to the forefront, in the circle outlined by light, while others gracefully recede into the distance... While working on this book, I felt a bit like a theatrical director," the artist recalled. The illustration-decorations rhythmically change: the space in front of the castle transforms into a portrait gallery, then into a throne room; the streets of the city turn into the interior of a cathedral and later become the bedroom of the heroine... And it seems natural that the series of plot turns is preceded by the visual image of Shakespeare's famous saying: "All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players." The text of the plays is printed according to the edition: Shakespeare W. Tragedies. Sonnets. — Moscow: Art Literature, 1968. — (Library of World Literature). The text of the sonnets is printed according to the edition: Shakespeare W. Complete Works in 8 Volumes. Vol. 8. — Moscow: Art, 1960. Contents: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark Translation by B. Pasternak Sonnets Translation by S. Marshak Romeo and Juliet Translation by B. Pasternak