Professor John Jowett is Chair of Shakespeare Studies at The Shakespeare Institute, University of Birmingham. He is a Series Editor of the Arden Early Modern Drama series and an Editor of the New Oxford Shakespeare Complete Works.
'...Jowett, one of the most gifted and exciting textual scholars around, whose Oxford edition of Richard III belongs right up there in the pantheon of truly great Shakespeare editions, has completed the job boldly, accurately and courteously.' 'The textual treatment is as full and cogent an analysis as you are ever likely to find, and one of its most refreshing characteristics- apart from the expertise with which it is written- is its honesty...this publication represents its official entry into the Arden Shakespeare canon- and Jowett's excellent edition amply justifies this inclusion.' The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, June 2011 John Jowett's edition of Sir Thomas More is indispensable reading concerning issues of Elizabethan collaboration and authorship. It implicitly asks: how do we identify a Shakespearean play?...' Sean Elliott, The London Magazine The London Magazine, August 2011 'It is an impressive piece of scholarship, surpassing its predecessor edited by Gabrieli and Melchiori in attention to technical detail, and in tackling the complexities of what some have considered the most politically incorrect Elizabethan play that we possess... The Arden edition succeeds in opening a can of worms which challenges contemporary critical thinking.' Notes and Queries, OUP, September 2011 It is an impressive piece of scholarship, surpassing its predecessor edited by Gabrieli and Melchiori in attention to technical detail, and in tackling the complexities of what some have considered the most politically incorrect Elizabethan play that we possess. ... The Arden edition succeeds in opening a can of worms which challenges contemporary critical thinking. What was the motive for the writing by anyone of a play that was intelligently foreseeable as unacceptable on the Elizabethan stage? The question remains. Thomas Merriam, Oxford Journals Clippings