WHAT'S new is often related to what's old. This week, TIME'S editors find real news in the enduring works of a master who died in 1616 and is still the biggest box-office boffo of show business in summer, 1960.

Our cover story (and six pages of color) on the Shakespeare boom goes beyond the three Stratfords (England, Ontario and Connecticut), for the great revival of the Bard is breaking out in print and libraries, on disk and stages the world over.

To catch the vitality and range of Shakespeare for the cover, Artist Aaron Bohrod turned to Shakespeare's characters, who this summer are speaking more lines than ever in more places than ever. Deployed in the midsummer's night sky around the bust of their creator are 24 characters who belong to the ages. While brushing up on your Shakespeare, see how many you can identify. The illustrations on this page are from a puckish little number called "Shakespeare on TIME," published by the Promotion Department in connection with the appearance of this week's cover story. If you would like a copy, write: Shakespeare Booklet, Time P.O. Box 2068, New York 8, N.Y.

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