T. W. Craik is Emeritus Professor of English in the University of Durham in the UK. He is the author of The Tudor Interlude and The Comic Tales of Chaucer, and has edited plays by Marlowe and Massinger for the New Mermaids Series, a selection of Elizabethan tragedies for Everyman's Library, Beaumont and Fletcher's Maid's Tragedy for the Revels Plays, and The Merry Wives of Windsor for the Oxford Shakespeare. He was joint editor of Twelfth Night in the second series of the Arden Shakespeare.
Distinguished editor T.W. Craik makes an independent and balanced examination of the many textual problems of Henry V, providing many new emendations. He begins his illustrated introduction with a commentary on the date and sources of the play, before taking up the problem of the Quarto and Folio texts; in Craik's view, the Quarto texts are evolving and incomplete versions of the play, with the First Folio best representing what was written by Shakespeare himself and performed to the public. Following his own substantial critical analysis King Henry V, the editor surveys other critical approaches to the play and lays out its performance history. Preceding the play itself is an explanation of Craik's text, with more analysis of the Quarto and Folio versions shedding light on the arduous process of compiling an edition of Shakespeare. Five appendices follow the play: The First Quarto of 1600, a map of France and the south of England, a map of the route of Henry V's army from 13 August to 17 November 1415, a genealogical table, and a doubling chart. The edition also includes a list of abbreviations used for reference.
The Arden Shakespeare has developed a reputation as the pre-eminent critical edition of Shakespeare for its exceptional scholarship, reflected in the thoroughness of each volume. An introduction comprehensively contextualizes the play, chronicling the history and culture that surrounded and influenced Shakespeare at the time of its writing and performance, and closely surveying critical approaches to the work. Detailed appendices address problems like dating and casting, and analyze the differing Quarto and Folio sources. A full commentary by one or more of the play’s foremost contemporary scholars illuminates the text, glossing unfamiliar terms and drawing from an abundance of research and expertise to explain allusions and significant background information. Highly informative and accessible, Arden offers the fullest experience of Shakespeare available to a reader.
"Craik's commentary is particularly ample and detailed, with careful attention to the play's language, textual problems, the interpretation of stage directions, and Shakespeare's handling of source materials . . . he builds up a distinct though traditionalist reading which, critically sympathetic and undogmatic, finds the play at once simple and subtle."—John Jowett, Shakespeare Survey
"With the exceptionally thorough Arden notes, and the extensive editorial coverage, including recent stage history, this Henry V is the one to have."—Times Higher Education Supplement
"Craik's commentary is exemplary in its thorough treatment of critical concerns, glossaries and explanations, theatrical matters, and source material."—Barry Gaines, University of New Mexico, Shakespeare Quarterly
