The Oxford Shakespeare The Oxford Shakespeare The Oxford Shakespeare is the range of editions of William Shakespeare's works produced by Oxford University Press. The Oxford Shakespeare is produced under the general editorship of Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor. Oxford University Press first published a complete works of Shakespeare in 1891. Entitled "The Complete Works", it was a single-volume modern-spelling edition edited by William James Craig. This 1891 text is not directly related to the series known as the "Oxford Shakespeare" today, which is freshly re-edited. The "Oxford Shakespeare" includes a "Complete Works" edited by John Jowett, William Montgomery, Gary Taylor and Stanley Wells,
Life of William Shakespeare Shakespeare's profits were potentially threatened by a dispute over enclosure, when local businessman William Combe attempted to take control of common land in Welcombe, part of the area over which Shakespeare had leased tithes. The town clerk Thomas Greene, who opposed the enclosure, recorded a conversation with Shakespeare about the issue. Shakespeare said he believed the enclosure would not go through, a prediction that turned out to be correct. Greene also recorded that Shakespeare had told Greene's brother that "I was not able to bear the enclosing of Welcombe". It is unclear from the context whether Shakespeare is speaking of