English poet and dramatist considered one of the greatest English writers (1564-1616)

William Shakespeare (baptised April 26 1564 – died April 23 1616)Dates use the Julian Calendar. Under the Gregorian calendar, Shakespeare died on May 3. was an English poet and playwright widely regarded as the greatest writer of the English language, and the world's preeminent dramatist. http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9109536 Encyclopedia Britannica article on Shakespeare, http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761562101/Shakespeare.html MSN Encarta Encyclopedia article on Shakespeare, http://columbia.thefreedictionary.com/Shakespeare,+William Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia article on Shakespeare. Accessed Feb. 26, 2006.

William Shakespeare was an 1864 work by Victor Hugo, written in his 13th year of exile. When he began writing it, he intended for it to be an introduction for a collection of French translations of Shakespeare's plays written by his son, Francois Victor Hugo. However, it grew to be approximately 300 pages in length, and Hugo had to write a separate introduction to the plays.