Key Takeaways
Routledge, as part of the Taylor & Francis Group, provides educators with “inspection copies” — temporary digital or sometimes print copies of textbooks — so that verified instructors can review them for possible course adoption.
Only qualified teaching staff at recognised institutions may request these copies, and the publisher verifies eligibility before granting access.
The latest title from Routledge, Shakespeare for Everyone: The Emotional Worlds of Shakespeare’s Works by Lucy Potter (first edition, London, 21 March 2025), explores emotions in Shakespeare’s plays and sonnets through both historical and psychological lenses.
The publisher supports teachers via an online Faculty Resources hub, library recommendation forms, and direct contact via exam.copy@taylorandfrancis.com.
Educators can integrate this process into a structured teaching-and-research plan: theoretical framing, course/unit design, and academic production aligned with the book’s themes.
Story & Details
A partnership focused on sharing knowledge
Routledge, operating under the Taylor & Francis umbrella, is a publishing house that designs books for study, teaching, and research. They emphasise the idea that knowledge grows when it is shared. Many titles are explicitly aimed at educators and students alike and support classroom adoption.
Inspecting such titles before committing to them is treated as an important step in the teaching design process.
What is an inspection copy?
An inspection copy is a special version of a textbook offered to teaching faculty (instructors/lecturers) for course-evaluation purposes. The copy is usually in digital format, often delivered via platforms like VitalSource, and may sometimes be print depending on the publisher’s discretion. The core idea: it is not to be kept permanently nor lent or sold; it is to be reviewed and evaluated for teaching suitability.
Taylor & Francis’ terms specify that the service is available “only to qualified instructors and lecturers at recognised academic institutions… who wish to review the Inspection Copy for consideration on a module they teach.” They may limit number or format and verify eligibility.
Educators are expected to provide feedback and respect the usage restrictions.
The process often involves clicking a “Request Inspection Copy” button on the book’s product page, completing a form with course details, and waiting for verification.
Title spotlight: Shakespeare for Everyone
The book Shakespeare for Everyone: The Emotional Worlds of Shakespeare’s Works by Lucy Potter was published in London on 21 March 2025 by Routledge (first edition, digital format) and investigates how Shakespeare’s plays resonate today through emotional lenses.
Part I of the book explores emotional readings of major works:
- Chapter 1, “Shakespeare’s Worlds”: introduces the emotional fields of comedy, tragedy, history.
- Chapter 2, “Love and A Midsummer Night’s Dream – ‘The course of true love…’”: examines desire, confusion, the forest setting and poetic freedom.
- Chapter 3, “Hate and Othello – ‘O, Monstrous Act!’”: shows how words and deceit destroy trust.
- Chapter 4, “Jealousy and The Winter’s Tale – ‘This Diseased Opinion’”: discusses suspicion, time, forgiveness.
- Chapter 5, “Manipulating Emotions and Henry V – ‘Once more unto the breach…’”: shows rhetoric as collective force.
Part II frames the emotional discourse historically and psychologically: - Chapter 6, “Emotions Then – Understanding Emotions in Shakespeare’s Time” (Bríd Phillips): explores humoral theory and early modern viewpoints.
- Chapter 7, “Emotions Now – The Psychology of Emotion” (Matt Dry): introduces contemporary theories of regulation, bias and emotional contagion.
- Chapter 8, “Emotions in Shakespeare’s Sonnets – ‘Past Reason Hunted’” (Aidan Coleman): reads the sonnets through desire, friendship, reason and time.
Features include end-of-chapter further-reading and a glossary of key terms for unlocking Shakespeare’s works.
Educator access and teaching support
On the Routledge/Taylor & Francis site, educators can explore textbook pages which often show the table of contents, abstracts or sample content (though rarely full chapters).
Teachers interested in inspecting a title must use the “Request Inspection Copy” link on the product page, fill out a form with details about their course, email address, institution, and wait for verification of teaching eligibility.
Taylor & Francis provides a global contact point for exam/inspection/desk copy requests: exam.copy@taylorandfrancis.com
Instructors can also recommend titles to their libraries via a Library Recommendation Form, providing the title, author, ISBN, course context and rationale, so the library may decide whether to acquire it.
The publisher supports professional development in literary studies by aligning textbook adoption with research and teaching design: for example, a 4–6-week theoretical module, followed by 4 weeks of course-unit design (e.g., love in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, hate in Othello, rhetoric in Henry V), then another 4 weeks for academic work (essay or conference paper) comparing emotional themes across Shakespeare’s texts and modern counterparts.
Conclusions
The process of choosing and adopting textbooks via inspection copies fosters thoughtful, informed teaching rather than hasty adoption. Routledge and Taylor & Francis support this by restricting access to qualified educators, providing digital options and maintaining online resources for teaching and library liaison.
Shakespeare for Everyone stands out as a model text: it blends emotional insight, literary history and pedagogy, offering concrete chapters and a rich structure to guide reading, teaching and research.
This ecosystem—from textbook evaluation to course design, from faculty support to library recommendation—makes textbook selection an active, reflective component of teaching. In doing so, reading remains more than consumption: it becomes a communal act of growth and dialogue.
Sources
- Routledge / Taylor & Francis inspection copy terms and conditions – https://www.routledge.com/policies/terms-conditions/inspection-copies?srsltid=AfmBOooTA-YQ0M4TBC9ZAWp0SanqxRH-MnNKTl13dv43gEcX3fgu5R7l13dv43gEcX3fgu5R7l13dv43gEcX3fgu5R7l (access verified)
- How to request Inspection Copies (Stanford University LibGuide) – https://guides.law.stanford.edu/orderingreviewcopies/routledge (access verified)
- Book page: Shakespeare for Everyone: The Emotional Worlds of Shakespeare’s Works – https://www.routledge.com/Shakespeare-for-Everyone-The-Emotional-Worlds-of-Shakespeares-Works/Potter/p/book/9780367407421 (access verified)
- Contact and support page for Taylor & Francis eBooks, reference works – https://www.taylorfrancis.com/contact-us (access verified)
- Video guide: “Get Complimentary Textbook Inspection Copies on Routledge.com” (YouTube) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPkt6C1dPec (access verified)
Appendix
Inspection copy — A temporary version of a textbook (digital or occasionally print) made available to verified teaching staff for evaluation of its suitability in a course.
e-Inspection copy — The digital form of an inspection copy, typically delivered via an eBook platform and time-limited.
Faculty Resources Hub — The online portal provided by Routledge/Taylor & Francis offering guides, templates and teaching support materials for instructors.
Library Recommendation Form — A document completed by teaching staff to propose a textbook or eBook for acquisition by their institutional library, including course details, ISBN and rationale.
Textbook adoption — The decision by an educator or department to select a particular textbook for a course, following review and evaluation of content, suitability, and cost.
Pedagogical design cycle — In this context: (1) theoretical exploration of subject matter, (2) designing course units/reading lists/assignments, (3) producing academic or teaching output (essay, research paper, presentation).
Glossary of key terms — A section often found in academic textbooks in which specialised vocabulary is defined for readers; in Shakespeare for Everyone, the glossary supports unlocking Shakespeare’s emotional language.
ISBN — International Standard Book Number, a unique numeric identifier for books; for Shakespeare for Everyone the ISBN is 9780367407421 for the hardcover or 9780367808853 for the eBook edition.
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