Introducing Shakespeare: A Graphic Guide - Nick Groom, Piero 2013

The Shakespeare Apocrypha

What did Shakespeare mean in the 18th century? William Winstanley in The Lives of the Most Famous English Poets (1687) catalogued no fewer than 48 plays by Shakespeare, including Lord Thomas Cromwell, Locrine, The London Prodigal, Sir John Oldcastle, The Puritan or The Widow of Watling Street, The Yorkshire Tragedy and The Birth of Merlin. (All but the last had been added to the Third Folio edition of 1663.)

MANY MORE APOCRYPHAL PLAYS WERE ASSIGNED TO SHAKESPEARE, INCLUDING…

… Fair Em, The Merry Devil of Edmonton, Arden of Faversham, The Reign of King Edward III, Mucedorus and The Second Maiden’s Tragedy. There were also apparently “lost” plays: Love’s Labour’s Won, possibly Henry I and Henry II, King Stephen, Duke Humphrey, Iphis and lantha, and most compellingly, Cardenio.