Shakespeare's 'Lady Editors': A New History of the Shakespearean Text

This book challenges the traditional view of Shakespearean editorial history by recovering the lives and labors of almost seventy women editors, demonstrating that their work can transform our understanding of the history of editing, the nature of editing as an enterprise, and how we read Shakespeare in history.

Format: Hardback
Length: 352 pages
Publication date: 09 December 2021
Publisher: Cambridge University Press

The Shakespearean editorial tradition has a rich and well-documented history, with men, mostly white and financially privileged, occupying private and exclusive libraries for nearly three centuries, diligently crafting their versions of Shakespeare's text. These men produced monumental tomes, hailed as monuments to Shakespeare's greatness and their own reputations. However, what if this narrative is not the complete picture? This book presents a daring, revisionist, and alternative perspective on Shakespearean editorial history, reclaiming the lives and contributions of nearly seventy women editors. It challenges the prevailing notion that the editorial profession was exclusively male-dominated until the late twentieth century. By emphasizing the significance of these women's work, the book offers a transformative understanding of the history of editing, the nature of editing as an enterprise, and our interpretation of Shakespeare in historical context.

The Shakespearean editorial tradition has a rich and well-documented history, with men, mostly white and financially privileged, occupying private and exclusive libraries for nearly three centuries, diligently crafting their versions of Shakespeare's text. These men produced monumental tomes, hailed as monuments to Shakespeare's greatness and their own reputations. However, what if this narrative is not the complete picture? This book presents a daring, revisionist, and alternative perspective on Shakespearean editorial history, reclaiming the lives and contributions of nearly seventy women editors. It challenges the prevailing notion that the editorial profession was exclusively male-dominated until the late twentieth century. By emphasizing the significance of these women's work, the book offers a transformative understanding of the history of editing, the nature of editing as an enterprise, and our interpretation of Shakespeare in historical context.

Weight: 636g
Dimension: 161 x 236 x 27 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781316518359
Edition number: New ed