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This series provides a high-quality selection of early printings of literary works, textual editions, anthologies and literary criticism which are of lasting scholarly interest. Ranging from Old English to Shakespeare to early twentieth-century work from around the world, these books offer a valuable resource for scholars in reception history, textual editing and literary studies.

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451 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Literary Studies

Page 19 of 23

The Posthumous Works of Mrs Chapone
  • Containing Her Correspondence with Mr Richardson, a Series of Letters to Mrs Elizabeth Carter, and Some Fugitive Pieces, Never Before Published
  • Volume 1
  • Hester Chapone
  • Published online:
    28 February 2011
    Print publication:
    18 November 2010
    First published in:
    1807
  • Hester Chapone (1727–1801) was a British writer and advocate of women's education who is best known as the author of one of the most popular conduct books for women in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Self-educated in French, Latin and Greek, Chapone published much of her work after the death of her husband in 1761. Her firm belief in the right of women to lead emotionally and intellectually fulfilled lives was much praised by contemporary feminists. These volumes, first published posthumously in 1807, contain a biography and a series of unpublished letters from Chapone to her friends. Her letters to her friend Samuel Richardson concerning the rights of women in marriage and women's education illustrate her strong views concerning these subjects, with this volume's other letters and her biography providing further valuable insights into her character. Volume 1 contains her letters to Eliza Carter.

Shakespeare’s Hand in the Play of Sir Thomas More
  • Alfred W. Pollard, W. W. Greg, E. Maunde Thompson, J. Dover Wilson
  • Published online:
    06 December 2010
    Print publication:
    17 June 2010
    First published in:
    1923
  • First published in 1923, this book consists of a series of papers written by Pollard, W. W. Greg, E. Maunde Thompson, J. Dover Wilson, and R. W. Chambers, all advocates of the then newly-established New Bibliography. The book was assembled with the intention of strengthening the argument that three pages of Sir Thomas More in the Harleian Manuscript at the British Museum were written in Shakespeare's own hand. The well-established scholars examine the case from several different angles, considering the handwriting in comparison to the known versions of Shakespeare's signature, the bibliographical links between these three pages and the 'good' quartos, and the content of the pages in relation to political ideas expressed elsewhere in Shakespeare. The volume also includes plates of Shakespeare's signatures, analysis of individual letter shapes and parts of the manuscript, and a special transcript of the pages in question.

The Bowdler Shakespeare
  • In Six Volumes; In which Nothing Is Added to the Original Text; but those Words and Expressions Are Omitted which Cannot with Propriety Be Read Aloud in a Family
  • Volume 1
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by Thomas Bowdler
  • Published online:
    06 December 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1853
  • 'The Family Shakspeare: in which nothing is added to the original text, but those words and expressions are omitted which cannot with propriety be read in a family.' These words on the title pages of this edition gave rise to the verb 'to bowdlerise' - to remove or modify text considered vulgar or objectionable. Although the first edition was in fact created by Henrietta Maria Bowdler (1750–1830) and published in 1807, the many subsequent editions were published under the name of her brother Thomas (1754–1825), who devoted his time to prison reform and chess, as well as the sanitising of Shakespeare. The Bowdlers' work became enormously popular as the scandal-ridden Regency gave way to Victorian respectability. This volume, from the 1853 edition, contains The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure, Much Ado about Nothing and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines
  • In a Series of Fifteen Tales
  • Volume 3
  • Mary Cowden Clarke
  • Published online:
    10 November 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1851
  • Mary Cowden Clarke (1809–98) was the daughter of the publisher Vincent Novello. She produced a complete concordance to Shakespeare's works in 1845, and her fascination with the plays led to her publishing in 1850 a series of imaginative accounts of the girlhood of some of his heroines. Her motive was 'to imagine the possible circumstances and influences of scene, event, and associate, surrounding the infant life of his heroines, which might have conduced to originate and foster those germs of character recognised in their maturity as by him developed; to conjecture what might have been the first imperfect dawnings of that which he has shown us in the meridian blaze of perfection'. These 'prequels' offer a back-story which is surprising in its subversive interpretation of the plays and especially of the role of the 'hero'. Volume 3 includes the stories of Beatrice and Hero.

Goethe the Alchemist
  • A Study of Alchemical Symbolism in Goethe’s Literary and Scientific Works
  • Ronald Douglas Gray
  • Published online:
    10 November 2010
    Print publication:
    17 June 2010
    First published in:
    1952
  • In his autobiography, Goethe half-apologetically admits the youthful enthusiasm he experienced for alchemical and mystical readings: Georg von Welling's obscure Opus Mago-Cabbalisticum et Theosophicum and the anonymously published Aurea Catena Homeri, as well as works by Paracelsus, Basilis Valentinus and van Helmont. Originally published in 1952, this study shows how the symbols and concepts of alchemy played a key role in the genesis of Goethe's later works, both scientific and literary. Author of, among other books on German literature, Goethe: A Critical Introduction (1967) and An Introduction to German Poetry (1965), Ronald D. Gray details Goethe's alchemical readings, and shows how these influences were processed and transformed into a unique blend of scientific and poetic accounts of reality. Unprecedented in its approach, this study will be of interest to readers of German literature, as well as to anyone interested in the history and evolution of mysticism.

The Cambridge Shakespeare
  • Volume 2
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by William George Clark, William Aldis Wright
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1863
  • The Cambridge Shakespeare was published in nine volumes between 1863 and 1866. Its careful editorial principles, attractive page design and elegant typography have withstood the test of time. This text was based on a thorough collation of the four Folios and of all the Quarto editions of the separate plays, the base text being the 1623 Folio. The critical apparatus appears at the foot of the page, but for passages where the Quarto differs significantly the entire Quarto text appears in small type after the received text. Notes at the end of each play explain variants, emendations, and passages of unusual difficulty or interest. Grammar and metre were generally left unchanged by the editors, but punctuation was normalised and nineteenth-century orthography was adopted instead of the variable Elizabethan spelling. In a bold move for a Victorian edition, the editors restored various 'profane' expressions where metre or sense demanded it.

The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines
  • In a Series of Fifteen Tales
  • Volume 1
  • Mary Cowden Clarke
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1850
  • Mary Cowden Clarke (1809–98) was the daughter of the publisher Vincent Novello. She produced a complete concordance to Shakespeare's works in 1845, and her fascination with the plays led to her publishing in 1850 a series of imaginative accounts of the girlhood of some of his heroines. Her motive was 'to imagine the possible circumstances and influences of scene, event, and associate, surrounding the infant life of his heroines, which might have conduced to originate and foster those germs of character recognised in their maturity as by him developed; to conjecture what might have been the first imperfect dawnings of that which he has shown us in the meridian blaze of perfection'. These 'prequels' offer a back-story which is surprising in its subversive interpretation of the plays and especially of the role of the 'hero'. Volume 1 includes the stories of Portia and Lady Macbeth.

The Cambridge Shakespeare
  • Volume 9
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by William George Clark, William Aldis Wright
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1863
  • The Cambridge Shakespeare was published in nine volumes between 1863 and 1866. Its careful editorial principles, attractive page design and elegant typography have withstood the test of time. This text was based on a thorough collation of the four Folios and of all the Quarto editions of the separate plays, the base text being the 1623 Folio. The critical apparatus appears at the foot of the page, but for passages where the Quarto differs significantly the entire Quarto text appears in small type after the received text. Notes at the end of each play explain variants, emendations, and passages of unusual difficulty or interest. Grammar and metre were generally left unchanged by the editors, but punctuation was normalised and nineteenth-century orthography was adopted instead of the variable Elizabethan spelling. In a bold move for a Victorian edition, the editors restored various 'profane' expressions where metre or sense demanded it.

The Henry Irving Shakespeare
  • Volume 4
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by Henry Irving, Frank A. Marshall
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1888
  • Henry Irving, the influential and controversial Victorian actor, was closely involved in the publication of this distinctive Shakespeare edition. As an actor, his concern was largely with the intellectual project of seeing each play as a unified work, rather than with producing strong emotional effects in the audience. In the words of his obituary in The Times, he appealed to scholars 'by his reverent and often acute treatment of the text', and accustomed playgoers to look for 'more than empty amusement'. To the edition, he brought a sense of the plays in performance which has never been equalled before or since. Addressing a general readership, he both included notes on cuts used by professional companies and suggested others that would facilitate amateur performances. Gordon Browne's illustrations, which suggest the contemporary styles of stage costume, are another attractive feature of this edition, which will appeal to Shakespearians and theatre historians alike.

The Cambridge Shakespeare
  • Volume 6
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by William George Clark, William Aldis Wright
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1863
  • The Cambridge Shakespeare was published in nine volumes between 1863 and 1866. Its careful editorial principles, attractive page design and elegant typography have withstood the test of time. This text was based on a thorough collation of the four Folios and of all the Quarto editions of the separate plays, the base text being the 1623 Folio. The critical apparatus appears at the foot of the page, but for passages where the Quarto differs significantly the entire Quarto text appears in small type after the received text. Notes at the end of each play explain variants, emendations, and passages of unusual difficulty or interest. Grammar and metre were generally left unchanged by the editors, but punctuation was normalised and nineteenth-century orthography was adopted instead of the variable Elizabethan spelling. In a bold move for a Victorian edition, the editors restored various 'profane' expressions where metre or sense demanded it.

The Cambridge Shakespeare
  • Volume 4
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by William George Clark, William Aldis Wright
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1863
  • The Cambridge Shakespeare was published in nine volumes between 1863 and 1866. Its careful editorial principles, attractive page design and elegant typography have withstood the test of time. This text was based on a thorough collation of the four Folios and of all the Quarto editions of the separate plays, the base text being the 1623 Folio. The critical apparatus appears at the foot of the page, but for passages where the Quarto differs significantly the entire Quarto text appears in small type after the received text. Notes at the end of each play explain variants, emendations, and passages of unusual difficulty or interest. Grammar and metre were generally left unchanged by the editors, but punctuation was normalised and nineteenth-century orthography was adopted instead of the variable Elizabethan spelling. In a bold move for a Victorian edition, the editors restored various 'profane' expressions where metre or sense demanded it.

The Cambridge Shakespeare
  • Volume 3
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by William George Clark, William Aldis Wright
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1863
  • The Cambridge Shakespeare was published in nine volumes between 1863 and 1866. Its careful editorial principles, attractive page design and elegant typography have withstood the test of time. This text was based on a thorough collation of the four Folios and of all the Quarto editions of the separate plays, the base text being the 1623 Folio. The critical apparatus appears at the foot of the page, but for passages where the Quarto differs significantly the entire Quarto text appears in small type after the received text. Notes at the end of each play explain variants, emendations, and passages of unusual difficulty or interest. Grammar and metre were generally left unchanged by the editors, but punctuation was normalised and nineteenth-century orthography was adopted instead of the variable Elizabethan spelling. In a bold move for a Victorian edition, the editors restored various 'profane' expressions where metre or sense demanded it.

The Girlhood of Shakespeare's Heroines
  • In a Series of Fifteen Tales
  • Volume 2
  • Mary Cowden Clarke
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1851
  • Mary Cowden Clarke (1809–98) was the daughter of the publisher Vincent Novello. She produced a complete concordance to Shakespeare's works in 1845, and her fascination with the plays led to her publishing in 1850 a series of imaginative accounts of the girlhood of some of his heroines. Her motive was 'to imagine the possible circumstances and influences of scene, event, and associate, surrounding the infant life of his heroines, which might have conduced to originate and foster those germs of character recognised in their maturity as by him developed; to conjecture what might have been the first imperfect dawnings of that which he has shown us in the meridian blaze of perfection'. These 'prequels' offer a back-story which is surprising in its subversive interpretation of the plays and especially of the role of the 'hero'. Volume 2 includes the stories of Ophelia and Juliet.

Cymbeline
  • The Cambridge Dover Wilson Shakespeare
  • William Shakespeare
  • Edited by John Dover Wilson
  • Published online:
    05 October 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1960
  • John Dover Wilson's New Shakespeare, published between 1921 and 1966, became the classic Cambridge edition of Shakespeare's plays and poems until the 1980s. The series, long since out-of-print, is now reissued. Each work is available both individually and as a set, and each contains a lengthy and lively introduction, main text, and substantial notes and glossary printed at the back. The edition, which began with The Tempest and ended with The Sonnets, put into practice the techniques and theories that had evolved under the 'New Bibliography'. Remarkably by today's standards, although it took the best part of half a century to produce, the New Shakespeare involved only a small band of editors besides Dover Wilson himself. As the volumes took shape, many of Dover Wilson's textual methods acquired general acceptance and became an established part of later editorial practice, for example in the Arden and New Cambridge Shakespeares.

Life in Shakespeare's England
  • A Book of Elizabethan Prose
  • 2nd edition
  • John Dover Wilson
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1911
  • Entertaining and informative, this 1956 anthology paints a vivid picture of the world in which Shakespeare lived. Using the playwright's life as the framework – his birth, his education, his move to London, his life in theatre, his death – the book uses selected extracts from key Elizabethan publications to embody the atmosphere of this period. From sport to superstition, from festival to fashion, from the plague to playhouses, the significant features of the age are described through its prose, providing the reader with first-hand accounts of the conditions in which Shakespeare's masterpieces were created. All chapters are prefaced with illustrative Shakespearean quotations; the collection representing a commentary on the work as well as the life of Shakespeare. All texts have been modernised to assist the reader, and a glossary is included which explains names, unfamiliar words and difficult passages.

Shakespeare's Tragic Heroes
  • Slaves of Passion
  • Lily Bess Campbell
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1930
  • Lily Bess Campbell (1883–1967) was a professor of English at UCLA. She won the achievement award from the American Association of University Women in 1960 and was named Woman of the Year by the Los Angeles Times in 1962. One of the most eminent literary scholars of her generation in the United States, she published mostly on Tudor literature. This study, first published in 1930, examines how the passions were understood in the Renaissance and why they were a central concern in the philosophy and medical studies of the period. After several chapters exploring moral philosophy and tragedy more generally, Campbell analyses the characters of Hamlet, Othello, Lear and Macbeth in relation to their guiding emotions: grief, jealousy, wrath and fear. She argues that Shakespeare, in his major tragedies, reflected the latest thinking of his time about the passions and their role in shaping the human mind.

Worke for Cutlers
  • A Merry Dialogue betweene Sword, Rapier and Dagger
  • Albert Forbes Sieveking
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1904
  • This edition of Worke for Cutlers was edited by Albert Forbes Sieveking and published in 1904, shortly after it had been staged (probably for the first time in 300 years) at Trinity Hall. The play was originally published anonymously in 1615, and was then described as 'Acted in a Shew in the famous Universitie of Cambridge'. Sieveking gives reasons to believe that Thomas Heywood, whose most famous work is A Woman Killed with Kindness (1603), had at least a part in its writing, and points out the topicality of 'A Merry Dialogue betweene Sword, Rapier and Dagger' at a time when James I was issuing edicts against duelling, which was punishable by heavy fines or even death. The short play is provided with a 'glossarial epilogue' containing explanatory notes.

Shakespeare’s Fight with the Pirates and the Problems of the Transmission of his Text
  • Alfred W. Pollard
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    17 June 2010
    First published in:
    1920
  • Originally delivered in November 1915 as a series of lectures at the University of Cambridge, this close textual analysis of Shakespeare overturned the conventional methods of Shakespearean bibliography. In this careful study, Pollard, a bibliographer and literary scholar, called into question the long-held assumption that the early Quartos were of little bibliographical value because of the errors, mis-spellings and mis-lineations. By emphasizing the efforts made to impede printing piracy in early modern England, Pollard argued that the Quartos are much closer to Shakespeare's manuscripts than previous scholarship had allowed. Pollard, along with J. Dover Wilson, W. W. Greg and R. B. McKerrow, was instrumental in establishing the theoretical framework of New Bibliography, and on its publication the book was greeted with what is described in the introduction as 'friendly controversy'. First published in 1915, the book was revised for republication in 1920. This reissue is of the 1967 reprint.

Character and Symbol in Shakespeare's Plays
  • A Study of Certain Christian and Pre-Christian Elements in Their Structure and Imagery
  • Honor Matthews
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1962
  • First published in 1962, Matthews' study examines the symbolic elements which persistently recur in Shakespeare's plays. The book focuses on the traditional material from medieval and sixteenth-century drama which seems to have been present in Shakespeare's mind as he worked, and which, Matthews argues, inspired significant themes which resonate throughout the plays. Divided into three parts, the book addresses in turn the concept of sin, the opposition of justice and mercy and the hope of redemption. Matthews investigates these motifs and their currency in Elizabethan England, and traces their presence in Shakespeare's created worlds with detailed reference to a wide range of the plays. Awareness of them provides fruitful avenues for the interpretation of the plays, and sheds light on Shakespeare's motives and methods.

Club Law
  • A Comedy
  • Edited by George Charles Moore Smith
  • Published online:
    07 September 2010
    Print publication:
    20 July 2009
    First published in:
    1907
  • Originally written and staged in the late sixteenth century, Club Law was published for the first time more than three centuries later. A colourful satire, the play captures the spirit of a bygone era. Club Law playfully reconstructs the heated debate between the University 'Accademicks' and the town council, who were viciously at odds. Though characters' names had been changed, the play was so true to life in its depiction of contemporary politics that much uproar followed its performance at Clare Hall (now Clare College), Cambridge about 1599. Found titleless and missing some pages and scenes, the play was pieced back together by G. C. Moore Smith in 1907. A detailed introduction outlines the play's setting and historical context, and draws parallels between this satirical Elizabethan play and contemporary society. Comprehensive notes and an index are also included.

Page 19 of 23