author
W. W. (Walter Wilson) Greg
1875–1959
A major force in twentieth-century bibliography, this English scholar helped shape how generations of readers and editors approached Shakespeare and other early printed drama. His work is still closely tied to the rise of modern textual criticism.
1 Audiobook
Pastoral Poetry & Pastoral Drama A Literary Inquiry, with Special Reference to the Pre-Restoration Stage in England
by W. W. (Walter Wilson) Greg
About the author
Born in 1875, he became one of the leading British bibliographers and Shakespeare scholars of his time. He was educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, and developed a long scholarly friendship with Ronald McKerrow. His family background was notable too: he was the son of the essayist William Rathbone Greg and a grandson of James Wilson, founder of The Economist.
Greg is especially remembered for his work on early modern drama and for helping to establish the methods often associated with the New Bibliography. Among his most influential writings are A Bibliography of the English Printed Drama to the Restoration and the essay The Rationale of Copy-Text, both central to later editorial theory and textual scholarship.
He was elected to the British Academy and was later knighted. He died in 1959, leaving behind a body of work that still matters to readers interested in Shakespeare, book history, and how texts are edited and transmitted.