I am grateful to Brian Gibbons for being such a patient and supportive General Editor, and to Katie Taylor for her corresponding patience and support at A & C Black. The following people helped with various aspects of the research, and the edition is the better for it: Roberta Barker, Tony Boyd-Williams, Anna Collins, Stephanie Gamble, Peter Holland, Sergio Mazzarelli, Anna Parker, Chris Penny, Jim Shaw, Sally Spurring, Brian Vickers, and Kate Welch. My colleagues Russell Jackson, John Jowett, and Catherine Richardson have been most generous with their learning and time. The Renaissance Drama Research Group of The Shakespeare Institute kept me company and kept me honest, and Kelley Costigan’s contribution was, as always, immeasurable. None of them is responsible for any of my errors and infelicities.
What is mine, and worthwhile, in this edition is dedicated to the memory of Bosola, who died, aged 384 days, on the press night of the 1991 Royal Shakespeare Company production of ’Tis Pity She’s a Whore.