Arden Shakespeare - Third Series

Third Series

The third series began in the 1990s. The first editions were initially published by Routledge, then by Thomson, and then by Cengage Learning. In December 2008, the series returned to Methuen, becoming part of Methuen Drama, a subsidiary of A & C Black. From February 2013, the titles have appeared under the Bloomsbury imprint. The general editors are Richard Proudfoot, Ann Thompson, David Scott Kastan, and Henry Woudhuysen. In 2010 an edition of Double Falsehood was published, which was somewhat controversial since this play is generally regarded as non-canonical. Subsequently, Sir Thomas More, a play for which Shakespeare likely contributed only one scene, was published as part of the series.

The Third Series edition of Hamlet, edited by Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor, presents the play in two volumes. The first volume, released in 2006, contains an edited text of the Second Quarto (1604–05), with passages found only in the First Folio included in an appendix, while the second volume, released a year later, contains the text of the First Quarto (sometimes called the "bad" quarto) of 1603 and the First Folio of 1623

As of February 2013, eight canonical plays remain unpublished: All's Well That Ends Well, Cymbeline, The Comedy of Errors, Henry IV, Part 2, King John, Macbeth, Measure for Measure, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. An edition of Edward III, attributing its composition in part to Shakespeare, was planned for release in 2013, but has been pushed back to 2014.