Gary Taylor (scholar)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Gary Taylor (born 1953) is an American academic, George Matthew Edgar Professor of English at
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
, author of numerous books and articles, and joint editor of ''
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. Precursor Oxford Univer ...
'' and '' The Oxford Middleton''.


Life

The first member of his family to graduate from high school, Taylor won scholarships that led to bachelor's degrees in English and Classics from the
University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States, and several satellite campuses, research and educational centers, medical centers, and classes across the state of Kansas. Tw ...
(1975) and to a doctorate in English from the
University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
(1988). With Stanley Wells, he worked for eight years as the "enfant terrible" of the Oxford Shakespeare (1978–86), a project that generated much controversy through editorial decisions such as printing two separate texts of ''
King Lear ''King Lear'' is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his power and land between two of his daughters. He becomes destitute and insane an ...
'' and attributing a poem commonly known as "Shall I die?" to Shakespeare (an attribution that has since been almost universally rejected). He has taught at
Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
Catholic University of America The Catholic University of America (CUA) is a private Roman Catholic research university in Washington, D.C. It is a pontifical university of the Catholic Church in the United States and the only institution of higher education founded by U.S. ...
,
Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...
(where he was Chair of the English department), and the
University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...
(where he directed the Hudson Strode Program in
Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
Studies, 1995–2005). In 2005, he joined the English Department at Florida State University, where he became founder and first director of the interdisciplinary History of Text Technologies program. Taylor has written extensively on
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
, Middleton, early modern culture, canon formation, race and ethnicity, gender and masculinity. Four of his works are included in the
Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...
list of the hundred most important books on Shakespeare (more than any other non-British author). He is best known for his work as an editor, textual critic, and editorial theorist, for which he has received fellowships from the
Folger Shakespeare Library The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., United States. It has the world's largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and is a primary repository for rare material ...
, the
National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...
, and the
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation The John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation was founded in 1925 by Olga and Simon Guggenheim in memory of their son, who died on April 26, 1922. The organization awards Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are grants that have been ...
. He has also written for ''
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', ''
The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'', and other periodicals, spoken to many theatre audiences, and been often interviewed on radio and television. Taylor devoted twenty years to ''The Collected Works of Thomas Middleton'', published by
Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...
in 2007. With John Lavagnino, he led a team of 75 contributors from 12 countries to produce "the Middleton First Folio," designed to establish Middleton’s status as "our other Shakespeare." Among other works, Taylor and Lavagnino chose to print the entire texts of William Shakespeare's plays ''
Macbeth ''Macbeth'' (, full title ''The Tragedie of Macbeth'') is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. It is thought to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those w ...
'' and ''
Measure for Measure ''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604, according to available records. It was published in the ''First Folio'' of 1623. The play's plot features its ...
'', on the theory that Middleton revised both of these plays after their original composition. They include Shakespeare's ''
Timon of Athens ''Timon of Athens'' (''The Life of Tymon of Athens'') is a play written by William Shakespeare and probably also Thomas Middleton in about 1606. It was published in the '' First Folio'' in 1623. Timon lavishes his wealth on parasitic companio ...
'' as well, but in this case postulating that it was a collaboration between the two authors. Also included in the volume are such anonymous plays as ''
A Yorkshire Tragedy ''A Yorkshire Tragedy'' is an early Jacobean era stage play, a domestic tragedy printed in 1608. The play was originally assigned to William Shakespeare, though the modern critical consensus rejects this attribution, favouring Thomas Middleton. ...
'', ''
The Second Maiden's Tragedy ''The Second Maiden's Tragedy'' is a Jacobean play that survives only in manuscript. It was written in 1611, and performed in the same year by the King's Men. The manuscript was acquired, but never printed, by the publisher Humphrey Moseley af ...
'' (presented under the title ''The Lady's Tragedy'') and ''
The Revenger's Tragedy ''The Revenger's Tragedy'' is an English-language Jacobean revenge tragedy which was performed in 1606, and published in 1607 by George Eld. It was long attributed to Cyril Tourneur, but "The consensus candidate for authorship of ''The Reven ...
'', which are generally, though not universally, credited to Middleton by modern scholars.


Selected works

;Books *Gary Taylor and Michael Warren, eds., ''The Division of the Kingdoms'' (1983). * Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor, John Jowett and William Montgomery, ''William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion'' (1987). *''Reinventing Shakespeare: A Cultural History from the Restoration to the Present'' (1989). *Gary Taylor and John Jowett, ''Shakespeare Reshaped 1606-1623'' (1993). *''Cultural Selection'' (1996). *''Castration: An Abbreviated History of Western Manhood'' (2000). *''Buying Whiteness: Race, Culture, and Identity from Columbus to Hip Hop'' (2005). *William Shakespeare, ''Complete Works'', eds. Stanley Wells, Gary Taylor, John Jowett and William Montgomery (1986, rev. 2005). * John Fletcher, ''The Tamer Tamed'', ed. Celia R. Daileader and Gary Taylor (2006). *''Thomas Middleton and Early Modern Textual Culture'', gen. eds. Gary Taylor and John Lavagnino (2007). *''The Collected Works of Thomas Middleton'', gen. eds. Gary Taylor and John Lavagnino (2007).


References


External links

*Florida State University, Department of English
Faculty Page for Gary TaylorOxford Middleton websiteHistory of Text Technologies at Florida State University
''Time Europe'', March 27, 2006.

''Guardian'', February 21, 2006.

''Guardian'', December 9, 2004.
''Guardian'', December 10, 2003.--> {{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Gary 1953 births Alumni of the University of Cambridge American academics of English literature Florida State University faculty Living people Shakespearean scholars Catholic University of America faculty University of Kansas alumni