William James Craig (6 November 1843 – 23 December 1906) was an editor of

Shakespeare's 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 ...

plays who produced the first ''

Oxford Shakespeare 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 ...

'' for the Oxford University Press.

Early life

Craig was born in

Macosquin Macosquin () is a small village, townland, and civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It is south-west of Coleraine, on the road to Limavady. In the 2011 Census it had a population of 614 people. The area is known for its caves an ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry ( Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry ( ga, Contae Dhoire), is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty two counties of Ireland and one of the nine counties of Ulster. B ...

, Ireland, where his father was an

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

minister, on 6 November 1843 and he was educated at Portora School, Enniskillen. In 1861 he was admitted to

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, graduating BA in 1865 and being awarded his MA in 1870. He remained at Trinity for four further years, as a lecturer in literature and history.

Tutor and editor

In 1874 Craig moved to London, where he became a private tutor for the Civil Service and Army entrance examinations, and university

matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...

. From 1877 until 1879 he held the position of Professor of English at

University College, Aberystwyth Aberystwyth University ( cy, Prifysgol Aberystwyth) is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Aberystwyth, Wales. Aberystwyth was a founding member institution of the former federal University of Wales. The universi ...

. In 1883 he published his first edition of Shakespeare: the

New Shakspere Society The New Shakspere Society was founded in autumn 1873 by Frederick James Furnivall in order "to do honor to Shakspere, to make out the succession of his plays, and thereby the growth of his mind and art; to promote the intelligent study of him, and ...

's ''

Cymbeline ''Cymbeline'' , also known as ''The Tragedie of Cymbeline'' or ''Cymbeline, King of Britain'', is a play by William Shakespeare set in British Iron Age, Ancient Britain () and based on legends that formed part of the Matter of Britain concerni ...

'', collated from editions of the

first folio ''Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies'' is a collection of plays by William Shakespeare, commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio, published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is cons ...

. The complete ''Oxford Shakespeare'' followed in December 1891. Although marketed as a "portable" edition, from the fine

india paper India paper is a type of paper which from 1875 has been based on bleached hemp and rag fibres, that produced a very thin, tough opaque white paper. It has a basis weight of 20 pounds (30 g/m2), yet bulks 1,000 pages to the inch. It became popular ...

upon which it was printed, the particular feature of this edition was its "Index of Characters" and a glossary. It had been Craig's intention to expand his glossary for separate publication, but this was unfinished at the time of his death. In 1901 he succeeded

Edward Dowden Edward Dowden (3 May 18434 April 1913) was an Irish critic, professor, and poet. Biography He was the son of John Wheeler Dowden, a merchant and landowner, and was born at Cork, three years after his brother John, who became Bishop of Edinburgh ...

, a friend from his student days at Trinity, as general editor of the

Arden Shakespeare The Arden Shakespeare is a long-running series of scholarly editions of the works of William Shakespeare. It presents fully edited modern-spelling editions of the plays and poems, with lengthy introductions and full commentaries. There have been t ...

series, while continuing to teach English literature to private pupils from his rooms at 55a

Gloucester Place Gloucester Place is a street in Marylebone in Central London. Located in the City of Westminster, it runs north from Portman Square across the Marylebone Road eventually merging into Park Road. It is parallel to Baker Street to the east and ...

, London. Among his pupils was the future novelist and lecturer in English literature

Natsume Sōseki , born , was a Japanese novelist. He is best known around the world for his novels ''Kokoro'', '' Botchan'', ''I Am a Cat'', '' Kusamakura'' and his unfinished work '' Light and Darkness''. He was also a scholar of British literature and writer ...

, who had been sent to London on a scholarship from the Japanese government. Craig died in London on 12 December 1906. He had never married.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, William James Shakespearean scholars Alumni of Trinity College Dublin Academics of University College London 1843 births 1906 deaths People from County Londonderry