PREFACE
CONTENTS
I PARENTAGE AND BIRTH Distribution of the name.
II CHILDHOOD, EDUCATION, AND MARRIAGE The father in municipal office.
III THE FAREWELL TO STRATFORD
IV ON THE LONDON STAGE The journey to London.
V. EARLY DRAMATIC EFFORTS Dramatic work.
VI THE FIRST APPEAL TO THE READING PUBLIC Publication of 'Venus and Adonis.'
VII THE SONNETS AND THEIR LITERARY HISTORY The vogue of the Elizabethan sonnet.
VIII THE BORROWED CONCEITS OF THE SONNETS Slender
IX THE PATRONAGE OF THE EARL OF SOUTHAMPTON Biographic fact in the 'dedicatory' sonnets.
X THE SUPPOSED STORY OF INTRIGUE IN THE SONNETS
XI THE DEVELOPMENT OF DRAMATIC POWER 'Midsummer Night's Dream.'
XII THE PRACTICAL AFFAIRS OF LIFE Shakespeare's practical temperament.
XIII MATURITY OF GENIUS Literary work in 1599.
XIV THE HIGHEST THEMES OF TRAGEDY 'Othello' and 'Measure for Measure.'
XV THE LATEST PLAYS The latest plays.
XVI THE CLOSE OF LIFE Plays at Court in 1613. Actor-friends.
XVII SURVIVORS AND DESCENDANTS The survivors. Mistress Judith Quiney.
XVIII AUTOGRAPHS, PORTRAITS, AND MEMORIALS Spelling of the poet's surname. Autograph signatures.
XIX BIBLIOGRAPHY Quartos of the poems in the poet's lifetime.
XX POSTHUMOUS REPUTATION
XXI GENERAL ESTIMATE General estimate.
APPENDIX I. THE SOURCES OF BIOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE. Contemporary records abundant.
INDEX.
FOOTNOTES.
