Book collections

Most of the books at the library are reference only. This ensures that all items are available to library users unless actively being used by another reader on the premises.

There is a small long loan collection for books that support the MA courses run by the Shakespeare Institute. All University of Birmingham students and staff can borrow books from the long loan collection.​

The University of Birmingham online catalogue, FindIt@Bham, can be used to search the library’s book collection. See Searching the library for more information about the online catalogues available.​

We also provide:​

  • e-books​
  • Online journals​
  • Periodicals​
  • Theses and dissertations​
  • Newspaper cuttings dating from 1902 to 2022

New arrivals 

Newly arrived books and DVDs at the Shakespeare Institute Library are listed below. We will update the list regularly when new books arrive and have been processed.​

April

  • Butterworth, Philip. Theatre of fire: special effects in early English and Scottish theatre. Revised edition. Arden Shakespeare, 2026.
    PN 2585
  • Calderwood, James L. Metadrama in Shakespeare's Henriad: Richard II to Henry V. University of California Press, 1970. [Replacement for missing copy]
    PR 2985
  • Casting the art of rhetoric with theater and drama: taking centre stage. Edited by Adrienne E. Hacker Daniels. Bloomsbury, 2025.
    PN 1661
  • Chakravarty, Urvashi. Fictions of consent: slavery, servitude, and free service in early modern England. University of Pennsylvania Press, 2022.
    PR 421
  • Craig, Heidi, Laura Estill, Kris L. May and Dorothy Todd. Collaboration, technologies, and the history of Shakespearean bibliography. (Cambridge Elements: Shakespeare and text). Cambridge University Press, 2026.
    PR 3071
  • Ghose, Indira. A defence of pretence: civility and the theatre in early modern England. Princeton University Press, 2025.
    PR 658.M273
  • Gruber, Elizabeth D. Adapting The tempest: explorations in ecophenomenology. Springer Nature, 2026.
    PR 2880.A1
  • Harvey, Elizabeth D. and Timothy M. Harrison. John Donne's physics. University of Chicago Press, 2024.
    PR 2248
  • Lazarus, Micha. Alexander Nowell's rough book: the life and library of a Reformation humanist. Bibliographical Society, 2025.
    LF 557
  • Montaigne, Michel de. Shakespeare's Montaigne: the Florio translation of the Essays: a selection. Edited by Stephen Greenblatt and Peter G. Platt. New York Review of Books, 2014.
    PR 2955.M8
  • Pensky, Nathan. Cartesian theaters, Shakespearean minds: finding Descartes on the early modern stage. Edinburgh University Press, 2026.
    PR 3001
  • Riviera, Massimiliano. Richard Barnfield and queer classicism: Elizabethan England. Oxford University Press, 2026.
    PR 2209.B8
  • Shakespeare, William, and Anonymous. Arden of Faversham. With an introduction by Iman Sheeha; text edited by Terri Bourus and Gary Taylor. (New Oxford Shakespeare). Oxford University Press, 2026.
    PR 2755.S6
  • Shakespeare, William, Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Nashe and Anonymous. Henry VI, part I. With an introduction by Amy Lidster; text edited by Sarah Neville. (New Oxford Shakespeare). Oxford University Press, 2026.
    PR 2755.S6
  • Shakespeare, William, Christopher Marlowe and others. Henry VI, part II. With an introduction by Kavita Mudan Finn; text edited by Rory Loughnane. (New Oxford Shakespeare). Oxford University Press, 2026.
    PR 2755.S6
  • Shakespeare, William. King Lear. With an introduction by Namratha Rao; text edited by John Jowett. (New Oxford Shakespeare). Oxford University Press, 2026.
    PR 2755.S6
  • Shakespeare, William. Shinsaku-Noh Macbeth. Edited by Izumi Noriko. Izumi Shoin, 2015.
    PR 2878.M3
  • Shakespeare, William. Shinsaku-Noh Othello. Edited by Izumi Noriko. Izumi Shoin, 2019.
    PR 2878.O7
  • Shakespeare, William. The winter's tale. With an introduction by Harry Newman; text edited by Terri Bourus. (New Oxford Shakespeare). Oxford University Press, 2026.
    PR 2755.S6
  • Twelfth night, or What you will: the state of play. Edited by Emma Smith. Arden Shakespeare, 2026.
    PR 2837
  • Zamir, Tzachi. Double vision: moral philosophy and Shakespearean drama. Princeton University Press, 2007.
    PR 3001