Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide - Nick Groom, Piero 2013

The World’s Compulsory Author

Shakespeare has in fact received more commentary than the Bible. He is the only compulsory author in the English National Curriculum for schoolchildren. Shakespeare was also being taught extensively in American schools and colleges by the end of the 19th century.

INDEED, THE AMERICAN EDUCATION WAS BASED ON ENGLISH LITERATURE — AND THEREFORE ON SHAKESPEARE.

American tycoons began assembling collections of Shakespeare folios and quartos, which led eventually to the foundation of great libraries like the Pierpont Morgan (New York) and the Folger Shakespeare Library (on Capitol Hill in Washington DC). Elsewhere, there is a Globe Theatre in Tokyo. Shakespeare permeates both popular culture and academic discourse.