Sir Stanley Wells, CBE, FRSL, described by Roy Hattersley as 'Our greatest authority on Shakespeare's life and work', is Honorary President, Life Trustee, and former Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He was Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, from 1988-1997, and is now Emeritus Professor. He is an Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has been General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare since 1978 and is General Editor of the Penguin Shakespeare. One of the most distinguished Shakespearian scholars currently working, his publications include Shakespeare For All Time (2002), Shakespeare & Co (2006), Shakespeare, Sex, and Love (2010), Great Shakespeare Actors (2015), William Shakespeare: A Very Short Introduction (2015), and Shakespeare's Tragedies: A Very Short Introduction (2017).

His breadth and judiciousness are generously on view in an essay "On Being a General Editor," with advice that I have long taken to heart as to whether notes should appear at the foot of the page, how to keep the text as free as possible from algebraic signs, how to persuade individual editors in a series to absorb and act upon the advice they are given, and much more. These are only a few instances of enlightenment afforded by this immensely valuable collection of essays.

• Peter Holland: Introduction I. Shakespearian Influences 1: Shakespeare: Man of the European Renaissance 2: Tales from Shakespeare II. Essays on Particular Works 3: The Failure of The Two Gentlemen of Verona 4: The Taming of the Shrew and King Lear: A Structural Comparison 5: The Integration of Violent Action in Titus Andronicus 6: The Challenges of Romeo and Juliet 7: Juliet's Nurse: The Uses of Inconsequentiality 8: The Lamentable Tale of Richard II 9: A Midsummer Night's Dream Revisited 10: Translations in A Midsummer Night's Dream 11: The Once and Future King Lear 12: Points of Stagecraft in The Tempest 13: 'My Name is Will': Shakespeare's Sonnets and Autobiography 14: Shakespeare Without Sources 15: Shakespeare and Romance III. Shakespeare in the Theatre 16: Boys Should be Girls: Shakespeare s Female Roles and the Boy Players 17: Staging Shakespeare's Ghosts 18: Staging Shakespeare's Apparitions and Dream Visions 19: Shakespeare in Planché's Extravaganzas 20: Shakespeare in Max Beerbohm's Theatre Criticism 21: Shakespeare in Leigh Hunt's Theatre Criticism 22: Shakespeare in Hazlitt's Theatre Criticism 23: Peter Hall's Coriolanus, 1959 IV. Shakespeare's Text 24: On Being a General Editor 25: Editorial Treatment of Foul-Paper Texts: Much Ado About Nothing as Test Case 26: Money in Shakespeare's Comedies 27: To Read a Play: The Problem of Editorial Intervention 28: The First Folio: Where Should We be Without it? 29: The Limitations of the First Folio Margreta de Grazia: Afterword Notes Select List of Publications Acknowledgements Index

Sir Stanley Wells, CBE, FRSL, described by Roy Hattersley as 'Our greatest authority on Shakespeare's life and work', is Honorary President, Life Trustee, and former Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. He was Professor of Shakespeare Studies and Director of the Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham, from 1988-1997, and is now Emeritus Professor. He is an Honorary Emeritus Governor of the Royal Shakespeare Company. He has been General Editor of the Oxford Shakespeare since 1978 and is General Editor of the Penguin Shakespeare. One of the most distinguished Shakespearian scholars currently working, his publications include Shakespeare For All Time (2002), Shakespeare & Co (2006), Shakespeare, Sex, and Love (2010), Great Shakespeare Actors (2015), William Shakespeare: A Very Short Introduction (2015), and Shakespeare's Tragedies: A Very Short Introduction (2017).

His breadth and judiciousness are generously on view in an essay "On Being a General Editor," with advice that I have long taken to heart as to whether notes should appear at the foot of the page, how to keep the text as free as possible from algebraic signs, how to persuade individual editors in a series to absorb and act upon the advice they are given, and much more. These are only a few instances of enlightenment afforded by this immensely valuable collection of essays.

• Peter Holland: Introduction I. Shakespearian Influences 1: Shakespeare: Man of the European Renaissance 2: Tales from Shakespeare II. Essays on Particular Works 3: The Failure of The Two Gentlemen of Verona 4: The Taming of the Shrew and King Lear: A Structural Comparison 5: The Integration of Violent Action in Titus Andronicus 6: The Challenges of Romeo and Juliet 7: Juliet's Nurse: The Uses of Inconsequentiality 8: The Lamentable Tale of Richard II 9: A Midsummer Night's Dream Revisited 10: Translations in A Midsummer Night's Dream 11: The Once and Future King Lear 12: Points of Stagecraft in The Tempest 13: 'My Name is Will': Shakespeare's Sonnets and Autobiography 14: Shakespeare Without Sources 15: Shakespeare and Romance III. Shakespeare in the Theatre 16: Boys Should be Girls: Shakespeare s Female Roles and the Boy Players 17: Staging Shakespeare's Ghosts 18: Staging Shakespeare's Apparitions and Dream Visions 19: Shakespeare in Planché's Extravaganzas 20: Shakespeare in Max Beerbohm's Theatre Criticism 21: Shakespeare in Leigh Hunt's Theatre Criticism 22: Shakespeare in Hazlitt's Theatre Criticism 23: Peter Hall's Coriolanus, 1959 IV. Shakespeare's Text 24: On Being a General Editor 25: Editorial Treatment of Foul-Paper Texts: Much Ado About Nothing as Test Case 26: Money in Shakespeare's Comedies 27: To Read a Play: The Problem of Editorial Intervention 28: The First Folio: Where Should We be Without it? 29: The Limitations of the First Folio Margreta de Grazia: Afterword Notes Select List of Publications Acknowledgements Index