Shakespeare Beyond Doubt

Did Shakespeare write Shakespeare? Brought together for the first time, a collection of major experts throw fresh light on one of literature's most controversial debates.

Shakespeare Beyond Doubt

Evidence, Argument, Controversy

Edited by Paul Edmondson and Stanley Wells

An Original Paperback / ISBN: 978-1-107-60328-8 / 283pp / £17.99

Published 18 April, 2013

Sceptics have proposed many candidates as the author of Shakespeare's works, including Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe and Edward De Vere, the seventeenth Earl of Oxford, and signatories to the renowned 'Declaration of Reasonable Doubt' include such luminaries of stage and screen as Sir Derek Jacobi, Jeremy Irons and Michael York. But why and how did the authorship question arise and what does surviving evidence offer in answer to it?

This authoritative and accessible new study sets the debate in its historical context and provides an entertaining account of its main protagonists and their theories. Presenting the authorship of Shakespeare's works in relation to historiography, psychology and literary theory, twenty-three distinguished scholars reposition and develop the discussion and explore the issues in the light of biographical, textual and bibliographical evidence to bring fresh perspectives to an intriguing cultural phenomenon.

About the editors

One of the world's foremost Shakespearians, STANLEY WELLS is The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust's first Honorary President. He is Emeritus Professor of Shakespeare Studies at the University of Birmingham, and Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre. His books include, Literature and Drama; Royal Shakespeare: Studies of Four Major Productions at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre; Modernizing Shakespeare's spelling; Re-editing Shakespeare for the Modern Reader; and Shakespeare: the Poet and his Plays.

Reverend Dr PAUL EDMONDSON is Head of Research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and Director of the Stratford upon Avon Poetry Festival. He is also a trustee of The Rose Theatre Trust. His previous books include, Twelfth Night: A Guide to the Text and Its Theatrical Life, and (co-authored with Stanley Wells) Shakespeare's Sonnets and Coffee with Shakespeare. He wrote the script for The Shakespeare Centre's 'Life, Love, and Legacy' exhibition and co-curated 'Shakespeare Found: A Life Portrait'. He was ordained a priest in The Church of England in 2011.

About Cambridge University Press

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