Life of William Shakespeare secure his family's position in Stratford. Shakespeare himself seems to have lived in rented accommodation while in London. According to John Aubrey, he travelled to Stratford to stay with his family for a period each year. Shakespeare grew rich enough to buy the second-largest house in Stratford, New Place, which he acquired in 1597 for £60 from William Underhill. The Stratford chamberlain's accounts in 1598 record a sale of stone to the council from "Mr Shaxpere", which may have been related to remodelling work on the newly purchased house. The purchase was thrown into doubt when evidence emerged that Underhill,
The Plays of William Shakespeare an authoritative text of Shakespeare. Johnson began reading Shakespeare's plays and poetry when he was a young boy. He would involve himself so closely with the plays that he was once terrified by the Ghost in "Hamlet" and had to "have people about him". Johnson's fascination with Shakespeare continued throughout his life, and Johnson focused his time on Shakespeare's plays while preparing "A Dictionary of the English Language", so it is no wonder that Shakespeare is the most quoted author in it. Johnson came to believe that there was a problem with the collections of Shakespearean plays that were available