Life of William Shakespeare less than a quarter of a mile from Shakespeare’s home and within a few yards from where his father sat on the town council. It was free to all male children and the evidence indicates that John Shakespeare sent his sons there for a grammar school education, though no attendance records survive. Shakespeare would have been enrolled when he was 7, in 1571. Classes met every day except Sunday, with a half day off on Thursdays, year-round. The school day typically ran from 6 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a two-hour break for lunch, from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Plays of William Shakespeare no distinction made between the ancient reading, and the innovations of the editor; there is no reason given for any of the alterations which are made; the emendations of former editions are adopted without any acknowledgement, and few of the difficulties are removed which have hitherto embarrassed the readers of Shakespeare. The "Miscellaneous Observations" contains many of Johnson's early thoughts and theories on Shakespeare. For instance, Johnson thought that there was an uncanny power in Shakespeare's supernatural scenes and wrote, "He that peruses Shakespeare looks round alarmed and starts to find himself alone". At the end of the work, Johnson