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,...

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...