King Lear :: Internet Shakespeare Editions

Quick start: King Lear (Modern, Extended Folio)
Editor's Introduction
- Textual 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)
  - Old-spelling transcription
Supplementary Materials
- Sources for the Lear story
  - Holinshed on King LearRaphael Holinshed
  - The History of King LeirAnonymous. Edited by Andrew Griffin
  - Albion's England (Selection)Edited by Michael Best and Eric Rasmussen
  - Hardyng's Chronicle (Selection)John Hardyng
  - Kings of BritainGeoffrey of Monmouth
  - Chronicles of EnglandRichard Grafton. Edited by Andrew Griffin, Michael Best, and Sarah Milligan
  - Faerie QueeneEdmund Spenser
  - The Mirror for MagistratesWilliam Baldwin and John Higgins. Edited by Sarah Milligan, Joey Takeda, and Michael Best
- Sources for the Gloucester plot
  - The ArcadiaSir Philip Sidney. Edited by Michael Best and Sarah Milligan
  - A Declaration of Egregious Popish ImposturesSamuel Harsnett. Edited by Sarah Milligan and Michael Best
- Literary, political, and social contexts
  - Aristotle on tragedyAristotle
  - The Book of Job (Selections)
  - The Monk's Tale (Selections)Geoffrey Chaucer
  - The Defense of PoetrySir Philip Sidney
  - The First Blast of the TrumpetJohn Knox
  - Basilicon DoronJames I
  - On BastardsJohn Lyly, William Shakespeare, and Anonymous
  - On AgingAnonymous, Montaigne, and William Shakespeare
- King Lear's afterlife
  - King Lear (Adapted by Nahum Tate)Edited by Lynne Bradley