This reissed edition of Longman Annotated Texts King Lear includes comprehensive notes, annotations and an introduction, all designed to be of use to undergraduates and interested readers.

King Lear is one of Shakespeare's most widely studied tragedies. However, since the late 1970s textual scholars, critics and editors have argued that there is no single 'King Lear' text. Anyone studying the play needs to be aware of two different texts, one based on the quarto of 1608, The History of King Lear, and a revised version published in the first folio of 1623, The Tragedy of King Lear. This edition offers a fully annotated, modern spelling version of the texts set side by side, identifying and elucidating the major discrepancies between the two. It presents some possible reasons for the differences between the two texts, which themselves shed light on a number of issues relating to literary transmission in the Renaissance and give an insight into the nature of performance and censorship.

A paperback edition of King Lear which addresses the issues surrounding the two disputed texts, the Quarto Text of 1608 and the First Folio Text of 1623.

This title is re-issued as part of the Longman Annotated Texts series. The series was conceived with the student in mind and is intended to provide accessible and authoritative editions of key texts in English and American Literature. The annotation is designed to bring out each text's full range of reference and meaning