Hudson's Harvard Edition of 1881

Henry N. Hudson was an American original, experienced as a farmer, coach-maker, school teacher, a Boston churchman and literati, popular lecturer and friend of Emerson—though no trandscendentalist—and editor of Shakespeare.  His first edition of Shakespeare appeared in 11 volumes from 1851-1856, preceded by that of Verplanck.  His School Shakespeare appeared in 1870, in 1872 Shakespeare His Life, Art and Characters, finally in 1881 his Harvard Shakespeare appeared in 20 volumes.

In the 1840's, while Hudson was lecturing in New England, he was said to be "as popular as Emerson himself in lecture courses in all the great cities" (A. J. George in the Introduction to Essays on English Studies, 1906).  After the Civil War, Hudson became the most popular editor of Shakespeare in America.  According to Allen (quoted in John Stafford, "Henry Norman Hudson and the Whig Use of Shakespeare" in  PMLA, Sep. 1951) Hudson "...moved his audience to see literature through the eyes of the English and German romantic critics and helped to take the moral stigma off the plays of Shakespeare" (649), a not inconsiderable accomplishment considering his puritan audiences. 

Hudson's edition is noted for its conservatism.  The Harvard Edition was to be "set forth on conservative principles but without dotage or bigotry" (Hudson's prospectus quoted in Murphy, Shakespeare in Print, p. 153).  His editions achieved wide popularity, serving to bolster Shakespeare as a broad new American cultural centerpiece.

For more on Hudson, including an overview of his life and work published in the 1890 edition of Shakespeariana, and the Preface to his Harvard Edition, see my Hudson page.  For links to his Harvard Edition from Google Book Search, available in full view and PDF versions, see below.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare. With A Life of the Poet, Explanatory Foot-Notes, Critical Notes, and a Glossarial Index.  Harvard Edition.  By the Rev. Hanry N. Hudson, LL.D. In Twenty Volumes.  Boston : Ginn, Heath, & Co. 1881.

• Vol. I
  • Preface
  • Life of Shakespeare
  • Shakespeare's Will
  • Dedication Prefixed to the Folio of 1623
  • Address Prefixed to the Folio of 1623
  • Commendatory Verses Prefixed to the Folio of 1623
  • Commendatory Verses Prefixed to the Folio of 1632
  • The Comedy of Errors
  • The Two Gentlemen of Verona
• Vol. II
  • Love's Labour's Lost
  • The Taming of the Shrew
• Vol. III
  • A Midsummer-Night's Dream
  • The Merchant of Venice
• Vol. IV
  • All's Well That Ends Well
  • Much Ado About Nothing
• Vol. V
  • As You Like It
  • Twelfth Night
• Vol. VI
  • The Merry Wives of Windsor
  • Measure for Measure
• Vol. VII
  • The Tempest
  • The Winter's Tale
• Vol. VIII
  • King Henry VI. Part First.
  • King Henry VI. Part Second.
• Vol. IX
  • King Henry VI. Part Third.
  • King Richard the Third.
• Vol. X
  • King John
  • King Richard the Second.
• Vol. XI
  • King Henry IV. Part First.
  • King Henry IV. Part Second.
• Vol. XII
  • King Henry the Fifth.
  • King Henry the Eighth.
• Vol. XIII
  • Titus Andronicus
  • Romeo and Juliet
• Vol. XIV
  • Julius Caesar
  • Hamlet Prince of Denmark
• Vol. XV
  • King Lear
  • Timon of Athens
• Vol. XVI
  • Antony and Cleopatra
  • Troilus and Cressida
• Vol. XVII
  • Macbeth
  • Othello, The Moor of Venice
• Vol. XVIII
  • Cymbeline
  • Coriolanus
• Vol. XIX
  • Pericles, Prince of Tyre
  • The Two Noble Kinsmen
  • Venus and Adonis
• Vol. XX
  • Lucrece
  • Sonnets
  • A Lover's Complaint
  • The Passionate Pilgrim
  • Index

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