These are enhanced by sample passages from early modern England writers, together with reproductions of pages from the original texts.

This volume presents a study of the changing images and differing ways that the life of English poet and playwright William Shakespeare (1564-1616) has been interpreted throughout history.

"Mullan shows how literary anonymity excites its opposite--curiosity, controversy, conflict, and notoriety. Anonymity is accessible, thorough, and interesting."--Sophie Gee, author of The Scandal of the Season: A Novel "A great book.

An abridged edition that will remain the standard biography for many years.

"The book trade, she argues, created many intriguing and paradoxical uses for anonymity, even as the authorial name became more marketable.

It successfully argues that "William Shakespeare" was the pen name of an aristocrat, and that William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon was a shrewd entrepreneur, not a dramatist."--BOOK JACKET.