Shakespeare made no formal dedication of his sonnets. The first publication of Shakespeare's Sonnets in 1609 contained an address by its publisher (evidently Thomas Thorpe) to a "Mr WH". For more on this matter read Who was Mr WH? at the link below.
Shakespeare did not title his sonnets.
This is akin to asking whether the Pope is Catholic. Shakespeare is the second-most famous writer of sonnets in the world (after Petrarch).
William Shakespeare is best known for his sonnets. Shakespeare published a total of 154 sonnets. Sonnets contain fourteen lines with a specific rhyme scheme.
Most of them, at some time or another.
No. Spenser and Wordsworth both wrote more.
Shakespeare did not title his sonnets.
Shakespearean sonnets - sonnets by Shakespeare
Shakespeare's sonnets was created in 1609.
This is akin to asking whether the Pope is Catholic. Shakespeare is the second-most famous writer of sonnets in the world (after Petrarch).
William Shakespeare is best known for his sonnets. Shakespeare published a total of 154 sonnets. Sonnets contain fourteen lines with a specific rhyme scheme.
Shakespearean sonnets - sonnets by Shakespeare
The volume Shakespeare's Sonnets [1609] contains 154 sonnets, so the usual answer to this question is 154. There are a few 'sonnets' embedded in the plays (particularly in Romeo and Juliet); but people don't normally include these among Shakespeare's Sonnets (for a number of reasons).
No. Spenser and Wordsworth both wrote more.
Most of them, at some time or another.
Most of Shakespeare's poems are sonnets, but there are also long narrative poems written in couplets.
Shakespeare's Sonnets were first published in 1609, by the London printer Thomas Thorpe. Sonnets 138 and 144 had appeared earlier, in the 1599 anthology The Passionate Pilgrim. The fashion for sonnets lasted from about 1580 until the very early 1600's - and for those twenty years sonnets were as cool and hip as rap is today. So by publishing in 1609, Shakespeare's sonnets had missed the boom years. But there are many references to sonnets written by Shakespeare much earlier than this (and we can see from the subject matter of many of the sonnets that they must have been written long before they were published). So it looks like Shakespeare's sonnets were originally passed round by hand, and only published as an afterthought (after Shakespeare had already become the most famous living playwright).
Shakespeare was famous for his plays and his poems and his sonnets.