Chronology of Shakespeare's plays
This article presents a possible chronological listing of the composition of the plays of William Shakespeare.
Edmond Malone was the first scholar to construct a tentative chronology of Shakespeare's plays in An Attempt to Ascertain the Order in Which the Plays attributed to Shakspeare were Written (1778), an essay published in the second edition of Samuel Johnson and George Steevens's The Plays of William Shakespeare.
Extract from Francis Meres' Palladis Tamia (1598), which makes reference to twelve of Shakespeare's plays.
1596 second quarto of A Shrew
1594 quarto of The First part of the Contention
Shakespeare's plays are a canon of approximately 39 dramatic works written by the English poet, playwright, and actor William Shakespeare. The exact number of plays as well as their classifications as tragedy, history, comedy, or otherwise is a matter of scholarly debate. Shakespeare's plays are widely regarded as among the greatest in the English language and are continually performed around the world. The plays have been translated into every major living language.
Sir John Gilbert's 1849 painting: The Plays of Shakespeare, containing scenes and characters from several of William Shakespeare's plays
The first edition of Raphael Holinshed's Chronicles of England, Scotlande, and Irelande, printed in 1577
The modern reconstruction of the Globe Theatre, in London
