“The Great Variety of Readers” and Early Modern Reading Practices

Heidi Brayman Hackel,

Heidi Brayman Hackel

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Heidi Brayman Hackel,

Heidi Brayman Hackel

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Book Editor(s):David Scott Kastan,

David Scott Kastan

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First published: 12 July 2012

https://doi.org/10.1111/b.9780631218784.1999.00010.x

Citations: 1

Summary

John Heminge and Henry Condell address their prefatory letter to Shakespeare's first folio “To the great Variety of Readers,” defining this “Variety” as encompassing readers “From the most able, to him that can but spell.”1 Like the playhouses, the folio ushers in a diverse audience of readers, whose numbers and practices are the subject of this essay. By juXtaposing representations of literacy in Shakespeare's plays with the habits of actual readers, this essay eXplores the “great Variety” of readings performed in early modern England.

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Citing Literature

A Companion to Shakespeare