Introduction to Shakespeare Apocrypha

Who really wrote the plays attributed to Shakespeare? This rigorous scholarly investigation examines the outer edges of the Shakespeare canon, subjecting 42 disputed works to careful scrutiny before settling on 14 plays that merit serious consideration as genuinely Shakespearian. C. F. Tucker Brooke, one of the great Shakespeare scholars of the early twentieth century, brings forensic attention to questions that have fascinated readers for centuries: What makes a play 'Shakespearian'? How do we separate authentic work from wishful attribution? The book systematically dismantles false claims while preserving the most tantalizing possibilities, offering a model of scholarly rigor that remains influential today. For anyone curious about the boundaries of literary genius, or for students of textual criticism and authorship studies, this work illuminates the contingent nature of canonicity and the detective work behind literary history.