3 - Textual Studies

Summary

In a time like this of feverish activity in the study of Shakespearian texts, it is well to pause for an evaluation of the present state of scholarship and a co-ordination and consolidation of recent discoveries. This is the more necessary because many of the most rewarding investigations have been of a highly technical nature, requiring the discovery and application of new and ever more rigorous bibliographical techniques and an appalling amount of sheer drudgery. The published results of these researches are likely to be caviare to the general. Indeed, the serious scholar who has not had the time to read all the literature of the subject may find the going heavy. He would not, however, be justified in wondering whether the investigators were indulging in intellectual gymnastics for their own pleasure. Should he be tempted to entertain such a frivolous thought, he would be well advised to read Sir Walter Greg’s monumental book about the First Folio.