ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how writers added to the Shakespeare myths in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Modern scholars such as Gary Taylor and Michael Dobson have shown Shakespeare's increasing importance as a cultural icon during this period. Dr Thomas Fuller work is a kind of early dictionary of national biography. The significance of his entry regarding Shakespeare lies not in any factual content but in the recognition that Shakespeare deserved to be remembered. A little more biographical material about Shakespeare was reported by John Aubrey a small amount from a huge array of information collected during the Restoration period. The myth grew that Shakespeare had himself planted a mulberry tree in line with the recommendation of James I, who was said to have encouraged the planting of trees to help the silk-worm industry. The story about James I and mulberries is hard to verify: and Shakespeare had already alluded to mulberries in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
