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"The Picture of True Love" : Benson rearranged the order of the poems in the 1609 Sonnets volume, arranging sonnets under thematic headings that presented them as a general lyric description of love and inhibited readings integrating the poems as a…

Following Malone’s interpretation, the 19th century was eager to read the Sonnets for evidence of Shakespeare’s intimate personal life. The introduction to the facsimile volume assumes that the “Dark Lady,” as the sonnet mistress became known, was a…

By 1880, photolithography was able to convey the feel of the original pages of the book, while adding features that frame a reader’s interpretive encounter with the text, such as the line numbering here.

“Selfe flattery of her beautie”: Benson’s headings sometimes imply that the poem’s object of desire is female, when generally scholars assume that the bulk of the sonnets are addressed to a male beloved. Here Benson combines sonnets 115-117 under…

In reprinting sonnet 108, Benson changes the text of the poem, replacing the poem’s address to the beloved as “sweet boy” with address to a “sweet-love,” removing the reference to a male beloved.

Excerpt from Act 5, Scenes 5-6. The italics indicate that this material was not part of the performance. They produce a reading experience focused on performance as the purpose of the text even as the text includes additional materials – perhaps like…

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Preface: Cibber’s Preface discusses his method of distinguishing his work from Shakespeare’s, allowing us to see the mix of writers at a glance.
Page 1: The first act of Cibber’s adaptation concerns Henry VI – already murdered in Shakespeare’s…

Page 10: Ravenscroft’s greater focus on Aaron the Moor reveals how compelling Shakespeare’s villain remained. Here, Tamora showily presents Aaron for Saturninus’s approval
Page 11: Aaron discusses the invisibility of his blushes. Later in the play,…

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Cast of Characters: Ravenscroft’s play separates characters by national and ethnic affiliation.