author
William Hall Chapman
b. 1845
Best known for probing Shakespearean authorship questions, this early 20th-century writer approached literary history like a case file, weighing records, names, and dates with determined care. His books revisit Robert Greene, Stratford traditions, and the documentary trail around Shakespeare.
1 Audiobook
William Shakspere and Robert Greene : the evidence
by William Hall Chapman
About the author
William Hall Chapman was an American author born in 1845, known from library and catalog records for a cluster of Shakespeare studies published in the early 20th century. Confirmed works include Shakespeare; the Personal Phase (published in Los Angeles in 1920) and A Critical Review of the Shakspere Mortuary Malediction and the Seventeen-Foot Grave (1921).
His writing focused on authorship debates and documentary evidence surrounding Shakespeare and Robert Greene. A later edition and public-domain release of William Shakspere and Robert Greene: The Evidence shows the same careful, argumentative style: Chapman returned to original records and spelling forms, and challenged what he saw as legend or loose assumption in Shakespeare scholarship.
Very little biographical detail beyond his birth year is easy to confirm from reliable sources surfaced here, so his books remain the clearest picture of him. What stands out is a writer deeply absorbed by literary detective work, especially the contested edges of Shakespeare biography and attribution.