The Complete Works is a collection of all the works of one artist, writer, musician, group, etc. Sometimes the Latin language equivalent, Opera Omnia, is used. For example, Complete Works of Shakespeare is an edition containing all the plays and poems of William Shakespeare.
Sometimes the complete works may be titled by a single word, "Works".
A "Complete Works" edition usually is accompanied with notes, introduction, biographical sketch, and other additional information.
A contrasting term is "selected works", which is a collection of works selected according to some criterion, e.g., by prominence, by being a representative selection, etc.
Famous quotes containing the words complete and/or works:
“I see advertisements for active young men, as if activity were the whole of a young man’s capital. Yet I have been surprised when one has with confidence proposed to me, a grown man, to embark in some enterprise of his, as if I had absolutely nothing to do, my life having been a complete failure hitherto. What a doubtful compliment this to pay me!”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“The whole idea of image is so confused. On the one hand, Madison Avenue is worried about the image of the players in a tennis tour. On the other hand, sports events are often sponsored by the makers of junk food, beer, and cigarettes. What’s the message when an athlete who works at keeping her body fit is sponsored by a sugar-filled snack that does more harm than good?”
—Martina Navratilova (b. 1956)