. . .rstand why there are so few contemporary records of Shakspere the man; and see that the neglect of his texts was extreme, whether or not he were the author.  The neglect was characteristic of the playwrights of his own and the next generation.  In those days it was no marvel; few cared.  Nine years passed before a second edition of the collected plays appeared: thirty-two years went by before a third edition was issued - years of war and tumult, yet they saw the posthumous publication of the collected plays of Beaumont and Fletcher.

There remains one more mystery connected with publication.  When the first collected edition of the plays appeared, it purported to contain “All His Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies.”  According to the postulate of the Baconians it was edited by the Author, or by Jonson acting for him.  It contains several plays which, according to many critics, are not the author’s.  This, if true, is mysterio. . . Read More