Shakespeare Problems: Shakespeare’s Fight with the Pirates and the Problems of the Transmission of his Text

Alfred William Pollard, 1859-1944, was a prolific writer who specialized in literary history. He became well known for elevating the study of Shakespeare, through encouraging rigorous examination, study, and sourcing of material. As a distinguished bibliographer, Pollard rose to be Keeper of the British Museum. Additionally, he served as a Professor at the University of London, teaching English Bibliography. While he worked with numerous scholars on various problems in literature, Shakespeare was closest to his heart and he wrote a great deal about him, including Shakespeare Folios and Quartos: A Study in the Bibliography of Shakespeare’s Plays, 1909; The Foundations of Shakespeare’s Text, 1923; and A Census of Shakespeare’s Plays in Quarto (with Henrietta C. Bartlett), 1939.