Shakespere's Holinshed: the Chronicle and the historical plays

In this review of Shakespere's Holinshed, the Chronicle and the historical plays compared, the reviewer finds a useful scholarly reprint for readers interested in historical sources behind Shakespeare's plays and 19th century bibliographic preservation. The single biggest reason to buy is access to a faithful scanned volume from the Cornell University Library print collections that preserves original marginalia and page artifacts, which can matter to researchers and collectors. This edition is not a modern cleaned transcription but a digital facsimile, and that character shapes the reading experience.

Key Features

• Historic facsimile: The book presents a scanned copy of the original 1879 volume, preserving the look and pagination of the historical edition for accurate reference.
• Full coverage scan: Titles were scanned cover to cover so readers get every page, including front matter and indexes, useful for thorough study.
• Library provenance: This copy was digitized from the Cornell University Library collection, providing institutional traceability for scholars and librarians.
• High quality imaging: Scanning was done on an APT BookScan and converted to JPG 2000 format, which retains detail and makes page images suitable for close inspection.
• Original markings preserved: Pages may include marks, notations and marginalia from the original, offering insight into historical readership and annotations.

Who It's For

This edition is ideal for literary scholars, students of Shakespeare and Holinshed, rare book collectors, and archivists who need access to an authentic facsimile of the 1879 printing. The preserved marginalia and original page images make it especially valuable for work that depends on observing physical page attributes rather than relying on modern editorial corrections.

Readers seeking a modern, annotated critical edition or a clean, retypeset text for casual reading should look elsewhere; this product is a scanned reproduction intended for reference and archival use rather than an updated interpretive edition.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Faithful reproduction preserves original page layout and typographic detail for scholarly comparison.
• Complete cover-to-cover scanning ensures no pagination or introductory material is omitted.
• Institutional scanning by the Cornell University Library offers reliable provenance and cataloging context.

Cons

• Because it is a facsimile, marginalia and marks from the original volume remain and may interfere with readers wanting a clean, modern text.

Specifications

Our Verdict

For researchers and collectors who need a historically accurate facsimile, this scanned 1879 volume is a strong value because it preserves original pagination and annotations and comes from a reputable library source. If you want clean editorial modernization, this reproduction is not the best choice, but as an archival reference it is recommended.

Frequently Asked Questions

Are the pages searchable text?
The item is a scanned facsimile converted to image files, so any text search depends on whether an external OCR layer is provided by the hosting library.

Does the scan include marginalia?
Yes, the reproduction preserves marks, notations and other marginalia present in the original volume.

Is this a modern edited edition?
No, this is a digital facsimile of the 1879 printing rather than a newly edited or annotated text.