ABSTRACT
In his ten-volume edition of the plays and poems of Shakespeare, which came out in 1790, Edmond Malone (1741-1812) included ‘An Historical Account of the English Stage’. He explained that this account was necessary in order for readers to understand better both the context within which Shakespeare was writing and his distinctive achievement. In 1790 a history of the stage assumes that it is dealing with a continuous development away from barbarity towards civilization: as Malone’s full title has it, its ‘Rise and Progress’.
