ABSTRACT
The First Folio, which, as it stands, indisputably links Shakspere the actor to Shakespeare the dramatist, is for this reason considered to be the citadel of the orthodox stronghold; consequently the theorists have devoted their main efforts to the task of undermining its evidential value. Their attacks upon it have been many and various. Moreover, though having a common object and often borrowing the munitions of war from one another, they are of course in no sense allies; they sometimes disagree in tactics, and occasionally indulge in skirmishes among themselves. The story of this part of the controversy is therefore a very complicated one and by no means easy to present in a coherent and logical form. However, that task must be attempted, and it may be facilitated if we begin with a brief description of the Folio, and especially of the details around which argument has raged most furiously.
