Shakespeare apocrypha

Shakespeare apocrypha
Philip Chetwinde · Public domain · source
Name	Shakespeare apocrypha
Subject	Attribution and contested works associated with William Shakespeare
Period	Elizabethan and Jacobean eras
Notable	John Fletcher, Thomas Middleton, Nicholas Rowe, Edmond Malone

Shakespeare apocrypha The Shakespeare apocrypha denotes plays and poems variably attributed to William Shakespeare whose authorship is disputed, uncertain, or collaborative during the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Scholarship engages figures such as William Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, John Fletcher, Thomas Middleton, and Christopher Marlowe while drawing on archival sources from Stationers' Register, First Folio, and printers like John Heminges and Henry Condell.

Overview and definitions

The term traces to editorial practice by Nicholas Rowe, Edmond Malone, and later editors in the 18th century and 19th century who compiled lists of supplemental works alongside the First Folio and later folios. Critical terminology intersects with studies of attribution studies, invoking methodologies developed by scholars at institutions like Oxford University, Cambridge University, and research centers such as the Folger Shakespeare Library and British Library. Debates reference periods including the Elizabethan era, the Jacobean era, and events like the English Civil War that affected manuscript survival.

Historical attribution and authorial attribution methods

Attribution historically relied on external evidence such as entries in the Stationers' Register, title-page attributions printed by booksellers like Thomas Creede and William Jaggard, and testimony by contemporaries including Ben Jonson and John Heminges. Internal evidence techniques emerged via stylistic analysis by scholars like Edmond Malone and computational approaches at institutions such as Princeton University and University of Oxford. Modern methods combine stylometrics developed by researchers including MacDonald P. Jackson, Gorham Munson, and teams using algorithms from Stanford University and University College London. Material evidence from archives maintained at the Bodleian Library, National Archives (UK), and private collections provides palaeographic support for attributions involving scribes like Ralph Crane and compositors employed by printers such as Nicholas Ling.

Works commonly included in the apocrypha

Lists circulated by editors like William Warburton, Alexander Pope, and later by the Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press anthologies have included titles such as "The Two Noble Kinsmen" (linked to John Fletcher), "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" (linked to George Wilkins), "Cardenio" (linked to Lewis Theobald and Miguel de Cervantes), "Sir Thomas More" (associated with Anthony Munday), and "Edward III" (associated with Thomas Kyd). Other frequently cited works include "The London Prodigal" (associated with Robert Greene), "A Yorkshire Tragedy" (associated with Thomas Middleton), and "Locrine" (linked to George Peele). Collections published by Edward Capell and editions by Samuel Johnson also circulated variant lists that incorporated plays like "Titus Andronicus" (often connected with George Peele) and poems attributed variably across poets including Michael Drayton.

Contested and disputed works (case studies)

Case studies illustrate contestation: "The Two Noble Kinsmen" prompted close collaboration analysis between William Shakespeare and John Fletcher with editorial decisions by Edward Capell and modern editions at Cambridge University Press. "Sir Thomas More" engaged handwriting analysis comparing hands from Anthony Munday and a possible hand attributed to William Shakespeare by advocates in archives at the British Library. "Pericles, Prince of Tyre" produced debates over revisions involving George Wilkins with textual variants preserved in quartos held by Stationers' Company records. "Edward III" saw claims by proponents citing stylistic parallels to Shakespeare and opponents referencing connections to Thomas Kyd and Christopher Marlowe. Lost plays like "Cardenio" intersect with continental sources such as Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes and editorial reconstructions by Lewis Theobald and modern projects at Folger Shakespeare Library.

Editorial treatment and inclusion in collections

Editors and publishers from Nicholas Rowe to G. B. Harrison and modern series from Arden Shakespeare, Riverside Shakespeare, and the Oxford Shakespeare have differed on inclusion criteria, using paratextual apparatus by scholars like Harold Bloom and textual editors at Cambridge University Press. Publishing history involves printers and booksellers including William Jaggard, John Smethwick, and Thomas Purfoot, and institutional policies at archives such as the Folger Shakespeare Library and British Library shape access. Modern digital projects at Early English Books Online and databases hosted by MIT and Stanford University facilitate computational collation that informs anthology decisions by institutions like Penguin Books and university presses.

Impact on Shakespeare scholarship and canon formation

Debates over the apocryphal corpus influenced twentieth-century criticism by figures like E. M. W. Tillyard, T. S. Eliot, and A. C. Bradley, and fueled authorship controversies invoking names such as Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, Francis Bacon, Christopher Marlowe, and William Stanley, 6th Earl of Derby. The apocrypha has affected pedagogical choices at universities including University of Cambridge, Yale University, and Columbia University and performance repertoires at venues like the Globe Theatre (modern), Royal Shakespeare Company, and National Theatre. Ongoing research intersects with legal deposit practices at the Stationers' Company, archival discoveries at the Bodleian Library, and interdisciplinary methods developed at centers like Huntington Library and Folger Shakespeare Library, shaping evolving definitions of the canon and influencing public reception through editions produced by Oxford University Press and theatrical programming by institutions such as Shakespeare's Globe.

Category:William Shakespeare