author
Joseph Quincy Adams
1881–1946
A leading Shakespeare scholar of the early twentieth century, he helped shape how generations of readers and students approached the playwright’s life and works. He also played a central role in the early growth of the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
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About the author
Born in 1881 and educated at Johns Hopkins University, Joseph Quincy Adams became one of the best-known American scholars of Shakespeare. He taught at Cornell University, where he was remembered as a popular lecturer, and he wrote widely on Shakespeare’s life, texts, and theater.
Adams is especially associated with the Folger Shakespeare Library. Folger sources describe him as Supervisor of Research in 1931 and the library’s first director in 1934, a role that placed him at the center of one of the world’s major Shakespeare collections.
His books include A Life of William Shakespeare and other studies that brought literary scholarship to a broad audience. He died in 1946, but his work remained closely tied to the development of Shakespeare studies in the United States.