A literary detective from The University of Nottingham who claims to have found evidence of a ‘lost play’ by Shakespeare has won the backing of the acclaimed Shakespeare publishers, Arden, with the publication of his new book, Double Falsehood, or the Distressed Lovers.
Professor Brean Hammond has spent the past 10 years researching the origins of the play, Double Falsehood, by an 18th century scholar, Lewis Theobald, who claimed it was a re-working of an original play by the Bard himself. Theobald’s claims that he had three original Shakespeare texts, now lost, were largely dismissed until now. Professor Hammond believes he has found credible evidence that indeed links Theobald’s play back to Shakespeare’s ‘lost play’, Cardenio; a collaboration between Shakespeare and John Fletcher performed in 1613.
The new Arden Third Series edition, published on March 22 2010, will make the play available in a fully annotated form for the first time in 250 years. It brings all the latest evidence to light in a detailed introduction by Professor Hammond explaining how the 18th century play appears to be a genuine version of Shakespeare’s earlier work, a revision of the Cardenio co-written by Shakespeare and John Fletcher.
Click here to listen to an interview with Professors Brean Hammond and Carol Rutter on BBC Radio 4.
Click here to go to the publisher’s website.
Source: University of Nottingham
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