Order of William Shakespeare Books
William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English poet and playwright who many consider to be the greatest writer of the English language. He lived in Stratford-upon-Avon and married Anne Hathaway (not that one), having three children with her (including two twins). He was respected for his work in his own time, but it wasn’t until the 19th century when he became a legend. To this day, his works are constantly studied, performed and reinterpreted.
William Shakespeare’s first known work is The Two Gentlemen of Verona, which dates back to 1589 and was published for the first time in 1623. Previous to that, he had written Love’s Labour’s Won, a lost play that predates 1589. His work is broken down into the categories Comedies, Poems, Histories, Tragedies and Apocrypha. Below is a list of William Shakespeare’s plays in order of when they were first officially recorded:
Publication Order of Comedy Plays
| The Tempest | (1593) |    |
| The Two Gentlemen of Verona | (1594) | |
| The Merry Wives of Windsor | (1594) | |
| Measure for Measure | (1594) | |
| The Comedy of Errors | (1594) | |
| Much Ado About Nothing | (1595) | |
| Love's Labour's Lost | (1595) | |
| A Midsummer Night's Dream | (1595) | |
| The Merchant of Venice | (1596) | |
| As You Like It | (1599) | |
| The Taming of the Shrew | (1599) | |
| All's Well That Ends Well | (1604) | |
| Twelfth Night | (1605) | |
| The Winter's Tale | (1605) | |
| Pericles | (1606) | |
| The Two Noble Kinsmen | (1634) | |
| Order of plays is based on the First Folio. | ||
Publication Order of History Plays
| King John | (1590) | |
| Richard II | (1590) | |
| Henry IV, Part I | (1590) | |
| Henry IV, Part 2 | (1590) | |
| Henry V | (1591) | |
| Henry VI, Part 1 | (1596) | |
| Henry VI, Part 2 | (1597) | |
| Henry VI, Part 3 | (1597) | |
| Richard III | (1597) | |
| Henry VIII | (1597) | |
| Edward III | (1598) | |
Publication Order of Tragedy Plays
| Troilus and Cressida | (1592) | |
| Coriolanus | (1593) | |
| Titus Andronicus | (1594) | |
| Romeo and Juliet | (1595) | |
| Timon of Athens | (1596) | |
| Julius Caesar | (1599) | |
| Macbeth | (1600) | |
| Hamlet | (1603) | |
| King Lear | (1605) | |
| Othello | (1605) | |
| Antony and Cleopatra | (1606) | |
| Cymbeline | (1610) | |
Note: Cardenio was co-written by John Fletcher.
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