Pre-Owned Shakespeare's Lives (Hardcover) by S Schoenbaum

Hard cover. Abridged. Language: English. Pages: 656. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. 656 p. First published 20 years ago and now available in an updated and abridged edition, this book follows the quest throughout history for knowledge of Shakespeare the man. A wealth of material in collections scattered all over the world yields fresh, sometimes dramatic information about a host of controversial characters and incidents. Beginning with the Shakespeare of documentary record - poet of the London stage and property owner of Stratford - Professor Schoenbaum proceeds to the Shakespeare of legend - deer-poacher, ale-drinker, and valiant lover. Other Shakespeares follow: the playwright as protagonist of a host of biographies; the Shakespeare for whom imaginary histories with forged documents were invented; the Shakespeare who appears in plays and novels; and the Shakespeare who never was: anti-hero of a vast and eccentric literature crediting his works to other writers - Francis Bacon, the Earl of Stafford, or Christopher Marlowe. The author has revised and added new material throughout, including fresh illustrations.