The Tragedy of King Richard II Part One

Book excerpt: Also known as Thomas of Woodstock, this unique edition is the only one based on a computerized analysis of the anonymous, hand-written MS in the British Library. Designed for actors and directors, but including scholarly notes and a comparative review of the MS's 13 earlier editions, the meticulously edited text concludes with a 'conjectural emendation' in the Elizabethan manner winding up the story. Is it by Shakespeare? This long-forgotten masterpiece completes the 'Hollow Crown' cycle filling in the narrative between Edward III and Shakespeare's Richard II, which begins immediately after its dramatic depiction of King Richard's first deposition and restoration in December, 1387.