ABSTRACT
Biographers of William Shakespeare invariably make two claims: that there are more records concerning Shakespeare than are popularly supposed and that these are sufficient records for an evidence-based biography of Shakespeare. These claims were made originally by John Payne Collier in 1844, when he resorted to fabricating records to satisfy them. The invention of tradition involves valuing the testimony of posthumous anecdotes Chambers was very cautious about posthumous anecdotes, which he relegates to the status of the Shakespeare mythos. Samuel Schoenbaum held a low opinion of mythos, which he defines as "that accretion of legend and lore which comes to surround the names of famous men." Schoenbaum attacks Carlyle for "seizing a myth" that Shakespeare was a "poor Warwickshire peasant," apparently wishing to distance Shakespeare from the modern pejorative associations of the word "peasant." Schoenbaum uses the biographer's mirror as a convenient way to dismiss any interpretation outside his own view.
