Two Lamentable Tragedies

This edition of Two lamentable tragedies, a quarto printed in 1601 by Richard Read for Matthew Law, and ascribed on the title-page to Robert Yarington, is the first to be published since 1913. It offers a photographic facsimile of the copy in the British Library (C.34.e.23), one of only five to have survived. The play combines a plot based on a real-life London murder case of 1594 with one deriving from an Italian tale of an evil father and his son. The introduction contains an up-to-date consideration of many aspects of the text, including a detailed bibliographical analysis of types, page dimensions, headlines, watermarks and paper; an analysis of compositorial divisions, and of a range of books printed and published by Read and Law; and the nature of the copy-text, which can be deduced from the visualised stage directions and other indications of imaginative staging. There has long been controversy surrounding the authorship of the play, and a full discussion of the issues is provided, including possible identifications of Yarington in contemporary documents, and the question of collaboration. The volume will be essential reading for students of Renaissance drama, book history, and bibliography.