For over 80 years the British Academy Shakespeare lectures have provided a forum for the leading Shakespeare critics of the day. The lectures delivered in the 1980s addressed subjects of topical interest (Shakespeare's audience and its imaginative participation in the play, Shakespeare as reviser of his own work, plays of disputed authorship), as well as examining major plays at length. All of the pieces will appeal to general readers and theater-goers, as well as Shakespeare specialists. Contributors include E.A.J. Honigmann, R.A. Foakes, Emrys Jones, Inga-Stina Ewbank, Glynne Wickham,...

For over 80 years the British Academy Shakespeare lectures have provided a forum for the leading Shakespeare critics of the day. The lectures delivered in the 1980s addressed subjects of topical interest (Shakespeare's audience and its imaginative participation in the play, Shakespeare as reviser of his own work, plays of disputed authorship), as well as examining major plays at length. All the pieces will appeal to general readers and theater-goers, as well as Shakespeare specialists.

In a groundbreaking piece of scholarly detective work, Professor Honigmann - editor of the forthcoming Arden 3 edition of Othello - uncovers in more detail than any previous study the hidden history of the two early texts of Othello, the Quarto and the Folio. He traces the crucial role played by two men in transforming Shakespeare's almost illegible manuscript to print: Thomas Walkley, the publisher of the Quarto, and Ralph Crane, the scribe who prepared the printer's copy for the Folio.
Through careful analysis of particular passages Honigmann exposes the extent to which...

For many years scholars have puzzled over the whereabouts of the young William Shakespeare. Where was he and what was he doing during the 'lost years' between leaving school and appearing as an actor and playwright in London? This fascinating literary detective story throws fresh light on the problems and provides some intriguing and significant answers. Bringing forward new historic and documentary evidence, one of Britain's most senior Shakespeare scholars makes it as clear as it now can be that Shakespeare worked as schoolmaster and player for a wealthy Catholic landowner in Lancashire and...

Myriad-minded Shakespeare introduces readers to the great variety of approaches to Shakespeare. The political and sexist implications of the plays, their sources, staging issues, textual disputes and the dramatist's character and biography are all analysed here, bringing out the interconnectedness of critical questions. Ernst Honigmann plunges straight into his subjects and shows that it is rarely safe to seek solutions that are narrowly exclusive. For the second edition a new preface places the essays in the context of recent critical debate and a new chapter on Shakespeare's will provides a...