King Lear
Edited by Michael Best
Quick start: King Lear (Modern, Extended Folio)
Introduction
Texts of this edition
King Lear was published in two significantly different versions in 1608 (Quarto 1) and in the Folio (1623). This edition provides modernized texts for each version, with the addition of "extended" texts that include the passages unique to the alternative text. For more information on the relationship between the two versions, see the Textual Introduction.
King Lear (Folio, 1623)
King Lear (Quarto 1, 1608)
King Lear (Quarto 2, 1619)
Supplementary and related materials
Sources for the Lear story
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Holinshed on King Lear
Raphael Holinshed
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The History of King Leir
Anonymous. Edited by Andrew Griffin
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Albion's England (Selection)
Edited by Michael Best and Eric Rasmussen
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Hardyng's Chronicle (Selection)
John Hardyng
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Kings of Britain
Geoffrey of Monmouth
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Chronicles of England
Richard Grafton. Edited by Andrew Griffin, Michael Best, and Sarah Milligan
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Faerie Queene
Edmund Spenser
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The Mirror for Magistrates
William Baldwin and John Higgins. Edited by Sarah Milligan, Joey Takeda, and Michael Best
Sources for the Gloucester plot
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The Arcadia
Sir Philip Sidney. Edited by Michael Best and Sarah Milligan
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A Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures
Samuel Harsnett. Edited by Sarah Milligan and Michael Best
Literary, political, and social contexts
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Aristotle on tragedy
Aristotle
- The Book of Job (Selections)
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The Monk's Tale (Selections)
Geoffrey Chaucer
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The Defense of Poetry
Sir Philip Sidney
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The First Blast of the Trumpet
John Knox
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Basilicon Doron
James I
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On Bastards
John Lyly, William Shakespeare, and Anonymous
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On Aging
Anonymous, Montaigne, and William Shakespeare
King Lear's afterlife
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King Lear (Adapted by Nahum Tate)
Edited by Lynne Bradley
Related Resources
Links in this section are to pages on the websites of the Internet Shakespeare Editions, Digital Renaissance Editions, Queen's Men Editions and Shakespeare in/au Québec.
Facsimiles
- King Lear, Quarto 1
- King Lear, Quarto 2
- First Folio
- Second Folio
- Third Folio
- Fourth Folio
- Works Rowe, Vol.5
- Works Pope, Vol.3
- Works Theobald, Vol.5
Life And Times pages
- King Lear
- Staging Lear
- Violence and madness
- A division of the kingdom
- Disorder and the stars
- Kings and clowns
Performances
- King Lear (2014, Seattle Shakespeare Company, USA)
- King Lear (2014, Free Shakespeare in the Park — Public Theater, USA)
- King Lear (2014, Stratford Festival of Canada, Canada)
- King Lear (2014, Stratford Festival of Canada, Canada)
- Shakespeare's Globe: King Lear (2014, Shakespeare's Globe, International)
- The History of King Lear as adapted by Nahum Tate (2014, The Slightly Skewed Shakespeare Series, USA)
- King Lear (2013, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, USA)
- King Lear (2012, National Arts Centre English Theatre, Canada)
- King Lear (2011, Shakespeare by the Sea - Los Angeles, USA)
- King Lear (2010, The Bell Shakespeare Company, Australia)
- King Lear (2008, Shakespeare's Globe, UK)
- King Lear (2008, Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, USA)
- King Lear (2008, Nebraska Shakespeare Festival, USA)
- King Lear (2008, Trevor Nunn, UK)
- chamber lear (2008, CHAMBERshakespearecompany, Scotland)
- King Lear (2007, Royal Shakespeare Company, UK)
- King Lear (2007, Stratford Festival of Canada, Canada)
- König Lear (2007, Burgtheater, Austria)
- King Lear (2006, Shakespeare Santa Cruz, USA)
- King Lear (2006, Yellow Earth Theatre, Canada)
- 407 more performances…
Performance materials
- flyer artifacts (1 collection)
- graphic artifacts (1 artifact)
- magazine artifacts (4 collections)
- page artifacts (16 artifacts)
- pamphlet artifacts (4 collections, 9 artifacts)
- performance artifacts (1 artifact)
- photograph artifacts (2 artifacts)
- poster artifacts (3 artifacts)
- press release artifacts (2 artifacts)
- production still artifacts (55 artifacts)
- program artifacts (21 collections)
- review artifacts (1 artifact)