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A Life of William Shakespeare

A Life of William Shakespeare

A Life of William Shakespeare

Sidney Lee
May 2012
Available
Paperback
9781108048194
$62.99
USD
Paperback

    Sir Sidney Lee (1859–1926) was a lifelong scholar and enthusiast of Shakespeare, but is also remembered as the 'sub-editor' recruited by Sir Leslie Stephen when he was embarking on the great project of the Dictionary of National Biography, and whose editorial and organisational skills were vital in keeping the publication programme close to its planned schedule. Lee was acknowledged as joint Editor with Stephen of Volume 21, and as sole Editor for Volumes 27 to 63. His own contributions included an account of the life of Queen Victoria and (in Volume 51, 1897) William Shakespeare. This full-length life followed in 1898 and is often credited as the first modern biography of the poet. It was an immediate popular success, and, given the limitations of the material available at the time of writing, was regarded for much of the twentieth century as the most reliable account of Shakespeare's life.

    Product details

    May 2012
    Paperback
    9781108048194
    520 pages
    216 × 140 × 29 mm
    0.65kg
    6 b/w illus.
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Preface
    • 1. Parentage and birth
    • 2. Childhood, education, and marriage
    • 3. The farewell to Stratford
    • 4. On the London stage
    • 5. Early dramatic work
    • 6. The first appeal to the reading public
    • 7. The sonnets and their literary history
    • 8. The borrowed conceits of the sonnets
    • 9. The patronage of the Earl of Southampton
    • 10. The supposed story of intrigue in the sonnets
    • 11. The development of dramatic power
    • 12. The practical affairs of life
    • 13. Maturity of genius
    • 14. The highest themes of tragedy
    • 15. The latest plays
    • 16. The close of life
    • 17. Survivors and descendants
    • 18. Autographs, portraits, and memorials
    • 19. Bibliography
    • 20. Posthumous reputation
    • 21. General estimate
    • Appendix:
    • 1. The sources of biographical knowledge
    • 2. The Bacon-Shakespeare controversy
    • 3. The youthful career of the Earl of Southampton
    • 4. The Earl of Southampton as a literary patron
    • 5. The true history of Thomas Thorpe and 'Mr. W. H.'
    • 6. 'Mr. William Herbert'
    • 7. Shakespeare and the Earl of Pembroke
    • 8. The 'Will' sonnets
    • 9. The vogue of the Elizabethan sonnet, 1594–7
    • 10. Bibliographical note on the sonnet in France, 1550–1600
    • Index.
      Author
    • Sidney Lee