Shakespeare Investigated • Publications of the Shakespeare Fellowship 1922-1936

Shakespeare Investigated • Publications of the Shakespeare Fellowship 1922-1936

Edited by James A. Warren
The publication in 1920 of J. Thomas Looney’s discovery that Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, was the pen behind the pseudonym “William Shakespeare” launched a new wave of scholarly interest in the issue of Shakespearean authorship. Scholars inspired by Mr. Looney’s pioneering work made one startling discovery after another regarding dates of composition (fifteen years earlier than had been thought), first audiences (educated courtiers in Queen Elizabeth’s court rather than the public stage), and the social setting in which the plays had been written (a time of great national stress and hardship due to the ongoing Anglo-Spanish War).
These and many other discoveries were reported in more than 300 articles published by the Shakespeare Fellowship, an organization founded in 1922 by Col. Bernard R. Ward to promote research into the authorship question. Yet these pieces were almost lost to history; very few have ever been reprinted—until now. Shakespeare Investigated includes the full text of 335 pieces originally published from 1922 to 1936. Readily available to scholars for the first time, they not only report on scholarly findings as they were announced, but also tell the story of the investigations that resulted in them. By showing how broad and varied researchers’ lines of investigation were, and by documenting how scholars changed their beliefs and interpretations as new information came to light, this collection fills an important gap in our understanding of scholarly work on the issue of Shakespearean authorship.

Veritas Publications, Paperback, english, 642 pages