Vintage Reads: Romeo and Juliet

Do you all remember this gorgeous spread in Vogue? It was definitely one of my favorites from the past few years -- styled beautifully of course, but cliche as it is, Romeo and Juliet is also one of my favorite Shakespearean plays.

I think my "should know better" love for it is rooted in time spent as a walking test tube of tweenage hormones and emotions in 1996 when Baz Luhrmann's Romeo + Juliet hit movie screens nationwide. Obsessed with the lovely wardrobes, set design, and of course mid-nineties DiCaprio, I decided to read the original work. I remember feeling so clever and mature as I painstakingly pieced together the dialogue using the index in the back.

Flash forward to today when I'm more likely to be styling rooms using vintage classics than actually taking the time to read them. (I also have fewer DiCaprio posters on my wall).

If you've been reading a while you know that I love, love, love book cover art and enjoy hunting for really intriguing copies of iconic works. So I went on a little hunt for some vintage copies of Romeo and Juliet, and these were some of the coolest ones I found.

Left to Right 1. 1963 reprint edition, published by Modern Library 2. Tales from Shakespeare Designed for the Use of Young People, published by Blackie & Son 3. 1936 MGM Souvenir Program 4. 1914, A Village Romeo and Juliet by Gottfried Keller, published by Charles Scribner's Sons 5. 1899 Maud Adams Acting Edition, published by R.H. Russell 6. 1948 Collector's edition, published by Pocket Books 7. 1991 edition, published by Oxford University Press 8. 1959 edition, published by Washington Square Press 9. 1966, First paperpack edition, published by Clarke Irwin

By the way, if you love the 1996 movie as much as I do, you must check out this Design Sponge post.