Thomas North's 1555 Travel Journal

Dennis McCarthy is an independent scholar and author of Here Be Dragons: How the Study of Animal and Plant Distributions Revolutionized Our Views of Life and Earth, as well as other titles. June Schlueter is Charles A. Dana Professor Emerita of English at Lafayette College and author of The Album Amicorum and the London of Shakespeare's Time, as well as other titles.

Chapter 1 The Journey Chapter 2 The Journal and Its Author Chapter 3 From Italy to Shakespeare Chapter 4 Revisiting History: North's Sources-and Shakespeare's Chapter 5 Henry VIII: Transplanting a Marian History Play Chapter 6 The Winter's Tale: An Homage to Queen Mary Chapter 7 The Winter's Tale and Mantua Chapter 8 Further Thoughts on The Winter's Tale Epilogue: The Lost Playwright The Transcript

In a fascinating and challenging edition of a manuscript travel journal recording an embassy to Italy in 1555, they argue that this work can be attributed to the twenty-year-old North. We should all be grateful for this edition of the travel journal, which will be useful and is based on some impressive detective work. * Times Literary Supplement * McCarthy and Schlueter's book will be compulsory reading in its turn for every scholar of these plays, and for anyone interested in Shakespeare's reading. -- Michael Dobson, Institute Director, The Shakespeare Institute, Stratford-upon-Avon, and Professor of Shakespeare Studies, University of Birmingham McCarthy and Schlueter have once again produced evidence that ought to rock Shakespearean scholarship to its foundations. -- Patrick Buckridge, former Head, School of Humanities, Griffith University, and former Co-editor of Queensland Review The scholarship in this volume is wide, deep, and impressive. The authors know they have a heavy burden of proof, but they bear it fully. -- Harry Keyishian, Professor Emeritus of English, Fairleigh Dickinson University, and former Director, Fairleigh Dickinson University Press This study compels us to recognize the Norths as significant protagonists in the vast, fascinating story of Shakespeare and his sources. -- Thomas G. Olsen, Associate Professor of English, The State University of New York at New Paltz