The World Shakespeare Bibliography, 1980 – 1996. Edited by James L. Harner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (in association with the Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC), 2000. CD-ROM. $810.

Abstract

In the 1970s, during the first major wave of stage-centered Shakespeare scholarship, Shakespeare Quarterly started dedicating so much space to reviews of contemporary Shakespeare productions that it took up a whole issue. Space pressures created a dilemma for editors and contributors: should the reviews document (listing personnel, cuts and alterations, and running time) describe (concept, tone, unusual line readings, and business) or assess (individual actors and overall effectiveness)? That wave, and the annual dedicated issue of Shakespeare Quarterly, passed (with another journal, Shakespeare Bulletin, taking up the banner). One legacy of that era has been the continuing efforts of the World Shakespeare Bibliography, published annually as a special number of Shakespeare Quarterly, to record as much as it can about Shakespeare in the theatre — not just scholarly books and articles, but contemporary productions and journalistic reviews.