There are many biographies of Shakespeare, and each of them is a little different from the last. The chief difference of this one is that it is based solely on contemporary documents. The latest document I have included as evidence dates from less than two decades after Shakespeare's death, and no Restoration testimony has been admitted. Nor have I deduced any biographical evidence from Shakespeare's plays.

The chief emphasis in the book is on Shakespeare's life as a working member of the London theatre. On the whole, he does not seem to have had very much to do with lords. he worked for a London audience, not for a select Court minority, and I have tried to bring to life for the reader the brilliant, lively, creative city in which his great art was rooted and through which it flourished.

I have also tried to bring to life for the reader the remarkable group of actors who were his fellow workmen in the theatre—Burbage, Heminges, Condell and the rest of that distinguished company who loved him, worked with him, and produced all his plays. Shakespeare was fortunate in his fellow actors, as he was fortunate in his audience. The world owes a debt of gratitude to the Londoners, and I have tried to pay a little of it in Shakespeare of London.

—Marchette Chute

From the dust jacket