It is one of the minor ironies of literary history that Nahum Tate's small claim to fame is for having the audacity to attempt to "improve" Shakespeare's plays, most egregiously King Lear. His contemporaries found him anything but audacious; Charles...

Nahum, by Klaas Spronk. Historical Commentary on the Old Testament. Kampen: Kok Pharos, 1997. Pp. iod + 153. N.P. This volume follows the approach of the recently inaugurated Historical Commentary on the Old Testament series by seeking to place the book of Nahum...

In his 1975 edition of The History of King Lear (1681), James Black could still claim that Nahum Tate's notorious adaptation was "one of the most famous unread plays in English." [1] Since then, mainly as a result of an unprecedented interest in...

In the following excerpt, Spencer presents an analysis of Tate's adaptations of Shakespeare, detailing how his versions of King Lear, Richard II, and Coriolanus differ from the originals.

In the following essay, Scott-Thomas argues that Tate's work clung to the Elizabethan past, that he struggled unsuccessfully to explore in his writings newer ideas and modes, and that his psychological and intellectual preoccupation with the past resulted in a superficial quality in his writing.

In the following essay, Fisk and Munns explore issues of gender and imperialism, the costs of conquest, and the emotional experience of loss in Dido and Aeneas.