Bücher der Reihe History of Text Technologies

The different versions of Hamlet constitute one of the most vexing puzzles in Shakespeare studies. In this groundbreaking work, Shakespeare scholar Terri Bourus argues that this puzzle can only be solved by drawing on multiple kinds of evidence and analysis, including book and theatre history, biography, performance studies, and close readings.

This monograph makes clear how the format of the literary folio played a fundamental role in book history by encapsulating the unstable negotiation between commerce, cultural prestige, and the fundamental nature of the printed book.

Most scholars agree that reading a play is absolutely unlike live performance, but everything else about their relationship beyond this premise has proven contestable. Focusing on the editorial and textual history of Shakespeare, this book navigates these debates by exploring how textual distortions enrich a play's performance potentialities.

As the first book-length examination of the role of German print culture in mediating Europe's knowledge of the newly discovered people of Africa, South Asia, and the Americas, this work highlights a unique and early incident of visual accuracy and an unprecedented investment in the practice of ethnography.