Recommended WWW Links
Related to BEDFORE COMPANION Topics

Chapter 1

Shakespeare's life
A Shakespeare Timeline
Existing Shakespeare Records
Shakespeare's Life and Times with illustrations from the original documents
Shakespeare Timeline Summary Chart (the events of the bard's life in historical/cultural context)
The Droeshout engraving appears on this page
Primary Documents from the FIRST FOLIO
(read the commendatory verses from Ben Jonson and look at the "Table of Contents" and the "Names of Principal Actors")
English Landmarks Shakespeare Would Have Known

Chapter 2

The Elizabethan Theatre
Merian's view of London (circa 1612) (contemporary map of London provided for comparison)
Renaissance illustrations showing London, the Globe Theatre, and other London Playhouses (Univ. of Reading)
Renaissance illustrations showing performances in real and imaginary playhouses (Univ. of Reading)
Drawing of an indoor playhouse by (Inigo Jones) (Univ. of Reading)
Globe Archaeology (Univ. of Reading)
The Elizabethan Theatre illustrated article by Hilda D. Spear
Wrong Side of the River: London's Disreputable South Bank in the 16th and 17th Century by Jessica A. Browner

Chaper 3

Shakespeare's Sources
Shakespeare's Bible : The Geneva Bible (1560)
"The Classics" in English: Title pages of the Great Translations
Ovid's Metamorphosis Englished, Mythologized, and Represented in Figures Translated by George Sandys (The Images from the 1640 Edition)
Links to the stories in Plutarch's "Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans"
Popular Renaissance English Publications

Chapter 4

Shakespeare's Texts
Printing: Renaissance and Reformation
The Early Printing Shop (Reproductions)
The Life of a London Printer: William Stansby and a list of books he printed 1610-1618
Facsimile of First Folio, 1623
Folio sample pages and questions
Four versions of King Lear Comparison by Rebecca Bushnell
Cover page of Lear, 1619
Opening page of Lear
Five side by side versions of the same passage
Sample textual variants from Othello (The Internet Shakespeare Editions)
Shakespeare's text: An Editor's View
Using Computer Analysis to Distinguish Between Shakespeare and Fletcher

Chapter 5

Dramatic Genres
Electronic Center for English Drama . . .
Shakespare: The Canon
More related WWW links to be added soon

Chapter 6

Shakespeare's Language
The Lord's Prayer in English (Old English, Middle English, Early Modern English)
The Down and Dirty Guide to Scanning Verse: Hints to Help with Sounding Shakespeare's Words by Kurt Daw
Alciato's Book of Emblems

Chapter 7

England in the Renaissance
Chronology of Elizabeth's Life and Reign (with hyperlinks)
The Sixteenth Century by C. T. Iannuzzo
"Renaissance" from the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
Shakespeare's Bible : The Geneva Bible (1560)
Alciato's Book of Emblems
Science and the Natural World: Competing Renaissance Views

Chapter 8

Gender Issues in the Plays
The Bardic Tradition's Effect on Elizabethan Casting by Cynthia Joyce Clay
More related WWW links to be added soon

Chapter 9

Politics and Religion
Ideas About Humanity and Its Place in Creation (Elizabethan World View)
Renaissance Cosmology: Competing Ideas of the Natural Order of the Universe
Members of Elizabeth's Court