Zachary Lesser is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Renaissance Drama and the Politics of Publication: Readings in the English Book Trade.

"Zachary Lesser's fascinating book about Q1 Hamlet details what happened after the discovery of this black sheep in Shakespeare's textual family. The rich cast of characters here, including both bit players and eminent scholars, makes the story a Stoppard play waiting to be written."-Douglas Bruster, University of Texas at Austin "An extraordinary work of interpretation and an extraordinary work of literary history."-Tiffany Stern, University of Oxford

• Introduction. The Ur-HamletChapter 1. As Originally Written by Shakespeare: Textual Bibliography and Textual BiographyChapter 2. Contrary Matters: The Power of the Gloss and the History of an ObscenityChapter 3. Enter the Ghost in His Night Gowne: Behind Gertrude's BedChapter 4. Conscience Makes Cowards: The Disintegration and Reintegration of ShakespeareConclusion. Q1 in the Library at BabelNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments

Zachary Lesser is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Renaissance Drama and the Politics of Publication: Readings in the English Book Trade.

"Zachary Lesser's fascinating book about Q1 Hamlet details what happened after the discovery of this black sheep in Shakespeare's textual family. The rich cast of characters here, including both bit players and eminent scholars, makes the story a Stoppard play waiting to be written."-Douglas Bruster, University of Texas at Austin "An extraordinary work of interpretation and an extraordinary work of literary history."-Tiffany Stern, University of Oxford

• Introduction. The Ur-HamletChapter 1. As Originally Written by Shakespeare: Textual Bibliography and Textual BiographyChapter 2. Contrary Matters: The Power of the Gloss and the History of an ObscenityChapter 3. Enter the Ghost in His Night Gowne: Behind Gertrude's BedChapter 4. Conscience Makes Cowards: The Disintegration and Reintegration of ShakespeareConclusion. Q1 in the Library at BabelNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments

Zachary Lesser is Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Renaissance Drama and the Politics of Publication: Readings in the English Book Trade.

"Zachary Lesser's fascinating book about Q1 Hamlet details what happened after the discovery of this black sheep in Shakespeare's textual family. The rich cast of characters here, including both bit players and eminent scholars, makes the story a Stoppard play waiting to be written."-Douglas Bruster, University of Texas at Austin "An extraordinary work of interpretation and an extraordinary work of literary history."-Tiffany Stern, University of Oxford

• Introduction. The Ur-HamletChapter 1. As Originally Written by Shakespeare: Textual Bibliography and Textual BiographyChapter 2. Contrary Matters: The Power of the Gloss and the History of an ObscenityChapter 3. Enter the Ghost in His Night Gowne: Behind Gertrude's BedChapter 4. Conscience Makes Cowards: The Disintegration and Reintegration of ShakespeareConclusion. Q1 in the Library at BabelNotesBibliographyIndexAcknowledgments