ABSTRACT
The 1986 Oxford edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare has generated much controversy over the years, from its general editorial policy of privileging so-called theatrical texts to specific editorial choices like calling Falstaff “Sir John Oldcastle” in 1 Henry IV. All editions of Shakespeare are mediated, but some are more mediated than others. The issue of co-authorship is of special importance now as a result of recent work by Vickers and MacDonald P. Jackson. It is always illuminating to peruse the copy on the dust-jackets and inside covers of a book, because it is an important stage in the book’s act of self-fashioning. Some readers may never look at the blurbs on the cover of a one-volume edition of Shakespeare. Others may not bother to read the preliminary matter. The Norton is based on the Oxford text, but the four editors reveal they have a different agenda in their preface.
