The Shakespearean Myth: William Shakespeare and Circumstantial Evidence

For those who think that the Shakespeare authorship question is something new, this book will be a revelation. Morgan surveys the literature and biographical hand-me-downs dealing with Shakspere of Stratford, concluding logically that the Stratford businessman cannot be the same person as the writer of the plays. He points out the name "Shakspere" was originally a French name "Jacques Pierre" that was badly pronounced by English settlers around Warwickshire. And he tells readers frankly about the messy world of printers and plagiarists that was Elizabethan England. The Stationers Register had total control over printed matter, and when a printer got his hands on a written work he could do anything he wanted with it. That's why most of the printed plays in Shakespeare's day were pirated, and why the First Folio was composed primarily of prompt copies or actor's part scripts, not the original and complete play. Morgan also writes with a delightful wit and lucid style.