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INTRODUCTION xiii
I. THE BACONIAN AND ANTI-WILLIAN POSITIONS 1
II. THE “SILENCE” ABOUT SHAKESPEARE 25
III. THAT IMPOSSIBLE HE—THE SCHOOLING OF SHAKESPEARE 41
IV. MR. COLLINS ON SHAKESPEARE’S LEARNING 65
V. SHAKESPEARE, GENIUS, AND SOCIETY 83
VI. THE COURTLY PLAYS: “LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST” 119
VII. CONTEMPORARY RECOGNITION OF WILL AS AUTHOR 133
VIII. “THE SILENCE OF PHILIP HENSLOWE” 153
IX. THE LATER LIFE OF SHAKESPEARE—HIS MONUMENT AND 167
PORTRAITS
X. “THE TRADITIONAL SHAKSPERE” 193
XI. THE FIRST FOLIO 205
XII. BEN JONSON AND SHAKESPEARE 235
XIII. THE PREOCCUPATIONS OF BACON 271
APPENDIX I.—“TROILUS AND CRESSIDA” 293
APPENDIX II.—CHETTLE’S SUPPOSED ALLUSION TO WILL 302
SHAKSPERE