Andrew Murphy is Professor of English at the University of St. Andrews. He is the author of Shakespeare in Print: A History and Chronology of Shakespeare Publishing (2003), the editor of The Renaissance Text: Theory, Editing, Textuality (2000), and co-editor of Shakespeare and Scotland (2004).

"As the concept of authorship continues to deconstruct itself in the wake of postmodernism, the volume is an indispensable addition to the bookshelves of both students and academics." (Notes and Queries, December 2009) "The essays offer a good balance of general history, theoretical issues, and individual case studies, such that, as a whole, the collection will be a valuable resource for those new to book-history studies, while also advancing ongoing debates through a series of thoughtful reflections on the state of the field." (Archiv, 2009)"This collection is more than a companion. It is a superlative guide to the current crisis surrounding the editing of the complex Shakespearean text ... .Essential” (CHOICE)"Andrew Murphy's ably edited Concise Companion to Shakespeare and Text ... constitutes an appropriate consecration for an area in Shakespeare studies whose vast importance has become increasingly obvious. [This book] provides an authoritative introduction to the field and full coverage of it, with a useful division into three main parts: 'Histories of the Book' (I), 'Theories of Editing' (II), and 'Practicalities' (III) … a fine achievement." (Around the Globe)

• Notes on Contributors viiAcknowledgments xNote on Texts xiIntroduction: What Happens in Hamlet? 1Andrew MurphyPart I Histories of the Books 151 The Publishing Trade in Shakespeare’s Time 17Helen Smith2 Reading and Authorship: The Circulation of Shakespeare 1590–1619 35Peter Stallybrass and Roger Chartier3 Shakespeare Writ Small: Early Single Editions of Shakespeare’s Plays 57Thomas L. Berger4 The Life of the First Folio in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries 71Anthony James WestPart II Theories of Editing 915 The Birth of the Editor 93Andrew Murphy6 The Science of Editing 109Paul Werstine7 Editing Shakespeare in a Postmodern Age 128Leah S. Marcus8 Shakespeare and the Electronic Text 145Michael BestPart III Practicalities 1639 Working with the Text: Editing in Practice 165David Bevington10 Working with the Texts: Differential Readings 185Sonia Massai11 Mapping Shakespeare’s Contexts: Doing Things with Databases 204Neil RhodesAfterword 221John DrakakisBibliography 239Index 258