The Division of the Kingdoms: Shakespeare's Two Versions of King Lear (Oxford Shakespeare Studies)

1987 Oxford University Press paperback edition. Some reading wear else good condition. From the cover: King Lear, widely regarded as Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, survives in two substantially different early texts, the Quarto of 1608 and the First Folio of 1623. Since the 18th century, however, editors have fused these two documents to produce a third, composite text that forms the basis of all modern productions and critical interpretations. Recently scholars have begun to challenge this editorial tradition, arguing that the Quarto and Folio texts represent distinct and coherent versions of the play that should not be combined. These essays, by an international team of scholars, re-examine the early texts from a series of distinct but interlocking perspectives, in a wide-ranging discussion with profound implications for all readers of Shakespeare. Contents: Introduction: The Once and Future King Lear by Stanley Wells The Base Shall to th' Legitimate: The Growth of an Editorial Tradition by Steven Urkowitz The Folio Omission of the Mock Trial: Motives and Consequences by Roger Warren The Diminution of Kent by Michael Warren Monopolies, Show Trials, Disaster, and Invasion: King Lear and Censorship by Gary Taylor 'Is this the promis'd end?': Revision in the Role of the King by Thomas Clayton Cor.'s Rescue of Kent by Beth Goldring Gon. No more, the text is foolish. by Randal McLeod Revision, Adaptation, and the Fool in King Lear by John Kerrigan Folio Editors, Folio Compositors, and the Folio Text of King Lear by Paul Werstine Fluctuating Variation: Author, Annotator, or Actor? by MacD. P. Jackson King Lear: The Date and Authorship of the Folio Version by Gary Taylor Select Bibliography Index of Passages Discussed in Recent Two-Text Studies In The Division of the Kingdoms Addenda.…