'Counterfeiting' Shakespeare

Brian Vickers addresses the fundamental issues of what Shakespeare actually wrote, and how this is determined. In recent years Shakespeare's authorship has been claimed for two poems, the lyric "Shall I die?" and A Funerall Elegye. These attributions have been accepted into certain major editions of Shakespeare's works. Through a new examination of the evidence, Professor Vickers shows that neither poem has the stylistic and imaginative qualities we associate with Shakespeare. He identifies the poet and dramatist John Ford as the actual author of the Elegye.

Highly contentious field and this is a hard-hitting book
Rejects the ascription to Shakespeare of two poems which some have accepted into the canon
Uses linguistic and stylistic methods of analysis

Reviews & endorsements

"The structure of Vickers's argument is indeed brilliant as it moves from refutation to confirmation. The innnovative historian of rhetoric displays how masterfully he can put the methodology of rhetorical persuasion to his own use. The book is thus a tour de force of considerable beauty. It is also a very useful guide for those wishing to do studies in attribution." Renaissance Quarterly

"[This book] is an impressive triumph of scholarship over marketing." New York Sun

"...an important book...persuasive..." Sixteenth Century Journal

"The book offers itself as a very convincing guide on how to conduct an attribution study, with Vickers, a major Rennaissance scholar and editor of Francis Bacon, drawing on his vast knowledge of early modern grammar, rhetoric, and culture. Recommended." Choice

"Vickers...has brought clarity to the old and hotly debated question of Shakespeare's work with co-authors. As a result changes will be made in some future editions of Shakespeare." New York Times Book Review

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