The Tragedy of Richard II, Part One : A Newly Authenticated Play

This is a new edition of an anonymous Elizabethan history play that has intrigued Shakespeare scholars for more than a century. Using modern computer softwares to degrain and magnify the text, Michael Egan resolves many of the transcription difficulties presented by the handwritten manuscript to produce the most authoritative edition yet available. A set of Text and Variorum Notes meticulously records the variant readings of previous editors and provides relevant citations from contemporary sources and other analytic comments to clarify the play's meanings, concerns and thematic preoccupations. Among other features of this edition are an original conclusion in the Elizabethan manner (some lines of the manuscript's final scene are missing), a book-length Introduction proving that Shakespeare wrote the play, and a l00-page supplement detailing over 1,600 echoes and parallels with the Collected Works. Other sections examine 1 Richard II's textual history from 1870–present, outline its historical background and include selections from the writings of those critics who have discussed the work in detail. This work is a must for every Shakespearean collection.