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:
“Fate forces its way to the powerful and violent. With subservient obedience it will assume for years dependency on one individual: Caesar, Alexander, Napoleon, because it loves the elemental human being who grows to resemble it, the intangible element. Sometimes, and these are the most astonishing moments in world history, the thread of fate falls into the hands of a complete nobody but only for a twitching minute.”
—Stefan Zweig (18811942)
“His works are not to be studied, but read with a swift satisfaction. Their flavor and gust is like what poets tell of the froth of wine, which can only be tasted once and hastily.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)