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A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels by George North: A Newly Uncovered Manuscript Source for Shakespeare's Plays
Contributor(s): McCarthy, Dennis (Author), Schlueter, June (Author)

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 ISBN: 1843844885     ISBN-13: 9781843844884
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
OUR PRICE: $137.75  

Binding Type: Hardcover
Published: February 2018
Qty:
Temporarily out of stock - Will ship within 2 to 5 weeks
Additional Information
BISAC Categories:
- Literary Criticism | English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh
- Drama | Shakespeare
Dewey: 822.33
LCCN: 2018286432
Physical Information: 1.2" H x 7.5" W x 9.8" L (2.15 lbs) 461 pages
Themes:
- Cultural Region - British Isles
Features: Bibliography, Index
Review Citations: Choice 10/01/2018
 
Descriptions, Reviews, Etc.
Publisher Description:
New sources for Shakespeare do not turn up every day... This is a truly significant one that has not heretofore been studied or published. The list of passages now traced back to this source is impressive. - David Bevington, Professor Emeritus, University of Chicago

"A Brief Discourse of Rebellion and Rebels" is the only uniquely existent, unpublished manuscript that can be shown to have been a source for Shakespeare's plays. George North wrote the treatise in 1576 while at Kirtling Hall, the North family estate in Cambridgeshire. His manuscript, newly uncovered by the authors at the British Library, has many implications for our understanding of Shakespeare's plays. for example, not only does it bring clarity to the Fool's mysterious reference to Merlin in King Lear, but also upsets the prevailing opinion that Shakespeare invented the final hours of Jack Cade in 2 Henry VI. Linguistic and thematic correspondences between the North manuscript and Shakespeare's plays make it clear that the playwright borrowed from this document in other plays as well, including Richard III, 3 Henry VI, Henry V, King John, Macbeth, and Coriolanus. The opening chapters of the book investigate such connections; the volume also contains both a transcript and a facsimile of "A Brief Discourse", making this previously unknown document readily available.

DENNIS MCCARTHY is an independent scholar; JUNE SCHLUETER is Charles A. Dana Professor Emerita of English at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania.
 
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