Shakespeare's Bones

Ingleby, C. M. (Clement Mansfield), 1823-1886Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

2.8

Word count: 82K words
Chapters: 9

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Shakespeare's Bones by C. M. InglebyAuthor: Ingleby, C. M. (Clement Mansfield), 1823-1886,Language: English, Class: PR: Language and Literatures: English literature, Release Date: Jun 1, 2005

Editor's review

Ingleby's Shakespeare's Bones investigates the traditions surrounding Shakespeare's grave and remains, and belongs to a strand of nineteenth-century English Shakespearean controversy. Following documentary and anecdotal leads, the author discusses claims relating to Shakespeare's burial place in prose marked by the meticulousness and obstinacy of Victorian scholarly debate. For readers versed in Shakespearean lore, the book offers a sample of early Shakespeare worship and antiquarian method; for the general reader it is more like a side door into a lesser-known corner of Shakespeare's reception history. As a public-domain e-book, the text has no modern introduction, and readers need some familiarity with the controversies over Shakespeare's life. The book is short and suited to ancillary Shakespeare reading; set beside a biography or a reception history, it better reveals its polemical context and period flavor.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Shakespeare enthusiasts interested in the traditions surrounding his life and burial place
Readers studying Shakespeare's reception history and nineteenth-century English scholarly controversy
History readers who enjoy textual criticism and the exposure of documentary forgeries
English learners seeking public-domain English materials for ancillary Shakespeare reading

Not a good fit for

Beginners hoping to gain a systematic understanding of Shakespeare's plays from this book
Readers expecting modern archaeological or scientific findings
Casual readers impatient with nineteenth-century polemical style and cumbersome citation

Reading tips

Read a brief overview of Shakespeare's life and the burial-place traditions first, then turn to the book to reduce obstacles to understanding.
Mark the documents and anecdotal sources the author cites as you read, distinguishing evidence from conjecture.
Read alongside modern scholarship on Shakespeare's life to observe how nineteenth-century method differs from that of today.
Treat the book as a slice of Shakespearean reception history rather than insisting on whether its conclusions hold.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Does this book discuss scientific testing of Shakespeare's remains?

No. It is a nineteenth-century work of documentary criticism and argument concerning the traditions around Shakespeare's grave and remains; it does not involve modern scientific testing. Readers should treat it as material in the history of Shakespearean controversy, not as a contemporary archaeological report.

Can I read this book without knowing Shakespeare's works?

You can, but understanding will be limited. The book focuses on biographical traditions and documentary criticism rather than analysis of the plays, so it is accessible without familiarity with the plays; yet without any knowledge of Shakespeare's life and the basic controversies of Shakespearean scholarship, the arguments may seem tedious, so some background reading is advisable.

Is the book's argument now accepted by scholars?

That cannot simply be said. The book is one voice in nineteenth-century Shakespearean controversy, and its specific conclusions are not settled scholarly opinion today. Read it attending to how the author organizes material and answers objections, as a sample of reception history and critical method rather than a final answer.

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About the author

Ingleby, C. M. (Clement Mansfield), 1823-1886 Author · British · 1823–1886

C. M. Ingleby (Clement Mansfield Ingleby, 1823–1886) was a British Shakespeare scholar and antiquary. He devoted sustained attention to early documents concerning Shakespeare’s life and dramatic texts, emphasizing collation of editions and scrutiny of historical sources, and he edited materials related to Shakespearean drama. His representative work, Shakespeare’s Bones, examines Shakespeare’s remains and the traditions surrounding them, reflecting his habit of testing popular claims against documentary evidence. Public information about his education, career, and scholarly connections is limited. Judging from his surviving work, his writing is empirical and precise, serving the organization and discussion of Shakespearean documents; he holds a place in nineteenth-century British Shakespeare studies.