The Online Treasury of Contemporary Evidence for Dating Each of Shakespeare’s Plays
The Dating Shakespeare’s Plays website reviews not only the evidence for dating every play but also every argument used in support of a preferred date. Each play is considered in relation to:
- Publication data (Stationers’ Register, title pages, etc.)
- Allusions to the play (contemporary accounts, diaries, poems etc.)
- Performance data (Revels’ Accounts, Henslowe’s Diary, etc.)
- Dates of sources (both probable and possible), using Bullough Narrative & Dramatic Sources
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Tragedies
Troilus and Cressida
1581 – 1609
The Tragedy of Coriolanus
1579 – 1623
Titus Andronicus
1579 – 1594
Romeo and Juliet
1562 – 1597
Timon of Athens
1579 – 1623
The Life and Death of Julius Caesar
1579 – 1599
The Tragedy of Macbeth
1587 – 1611
The Tragedy of Hamlet
1586 – 1602
King Lear
1590 – 1606
Othello, the Moore of Venice
1584 – 1604
Anthony and Cleopatra
1579 – 1608
Cymbeline, King of Britaine
1579 – 1611
Comedies
The Tempest
1580 – 1611
The Two Gentlemen of Verona
1559 – 1598
The Merry Wives of Windsor
1558 – 1602
Measure for Measure
1580 – 1604
The Comedy of Errors
1566 – 1594
Much Ado About Nothing
1583 – 1600
Love’s Labour’s Lost
1578 – 1598
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
1585 – 1598
The Merchant of Venice
1558 – 1598
As You Like It
1590 – 1600
The Taming of the Shrew
1579 – 1598
All’s Well That Ends Well
1567 – 1623
Twelfth Night, or what you will
1581 – 1602
The Winter’s Tale
1588 – 1611
Histories
The Dating of Shakespeare's History Plays
King John
1587 – 1598
‘The Second Tetralogy’
Richard II
1587 – 1597
Henry IV Part One
1587 – 1598
Henry IV Part Two
1587 – 1600
Henry V
1577 – 1600
‘The First Tetralogy’
Henry VI Part One
1587 – 1592
Henry VI Part Two
1587 – 1594
Henry VI Part Three
1587 – 1592
Richard III
1587 – 1597
Henry VIII
1583 – 1613
Other Plays
Pericles, Prince of Tyre
1576 – 1609
The Two Noble Kinsmen
1566 - 1614
Edward III
1577 – 1595
The Famous Victories of King Henry the fifth
1577 – 1594
Editor Kevin Gilvary
The Dating Project was set up by the De Vere Society to review objectively the primary evidence cited in support of dating the plays. The following contributed ideas and research to the project: Barbara Burris, Derran Charlton, Robert Detobel, Alastair Everitt, Charlotte (‘Sally’) Hazelton, Stephanie Hopkins Hughes, Ramón Jiménez, Philip Johnson, Dr. E. M. Jolly, Alex McNeil, Dott. Noemi Magri, Joe Peel, Marion Peel, Dr. John Rollett, Dr Roger Stritmatter, and Lee Tudor-Pole.
Dating Shakespeare’s Plays was first published by the De Vere Society in 2010. It has been brought up to date with a careful consideration of the findings by Martin Higgs et.al. in their magnificent Catalogue of British Drama. The chapters were set by Amanda Helm. The De Vere Society (registered charity No. 297855) is concerned with the works of Shakespeare and the question of their authorship. Members are interested in all aspects of composition, performance and publication, and the plays’ possible audiences. Information about the De Vere Society and its activities can be found on its website, www.deveresociety.co.uk, and new members are always welcome.