About the Author

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was an English dramatist, poet, and actor, generally regarded as the greatest playwright of all time. ERIC RASMUSSEN is Professor of English at the University of Nevada. He is co-editor of the Norton Anthology of English Renaissance Drama and the author of The Shakespeare Thefts. He is the General Textual Editor of the Internet Shakespeare Editions project - one of the most visited Shakespeare websites in the world. Since 1999 he has written the annual review of editions and textual studies for the Shakespeare Survey. ANN THOMPSON is Emeritus Professor in English at King' s College London UK. David Scott Kastan is the George M. Bodman Professor of English at Yale University, USA. Henry Woudhuysen is Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, UK. Professor Richard Proudfoot served as Senior General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare for 35 years, until his retirement from King's in 1999. In 2001 The Arden Shakespeare published Proudfoot's Shakespeare: Text, Stage and Canon a critical overview of the scholarly achievements made in the field of Shakespeare studies by the end of the twentieth century.