Book cover of Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes: Shakespeare in 1619, Bibliography in the Longue Duree

Book description

Four years before the publication of the First Folio, a group of London printers and booksellers attempted to produce a "collected works" of William Shakespeare, not in an imposingly large format but as a series of more humble quarto pamphlets. For mysterious reasons, perhaps involving Shakespeare's playing company, the King's…

When you buy books, we may earn a commission that helps keep our lights on (or join the rebellion as a member).

Why read it?

1 author picked Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Lesser’s book is a bibliographical ‘detective story’ that I found captivating and is another model of the scholarship that I would like to emulate. It concentrates on a mysterious group of ten plays printed in 1619–most of which feature historical subjects and/or are by Shakespeare–and what we can learn about them, including why several were printed with false attributions and dates and how early readers might have encountered them.

I think Lesser’s book is an incredible achievement in handling complex, technical scholarship and an immense amount of archival research that is also so engrossing and accessible. As a reader, I…

From Amy's list on Shakespeare and history.

If you love Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes...

Book cover of The Rosewood Penny

The Rosewood Penny by J.S. Fields,

2023 Queer Indie Award Nominee!

The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.

On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…

Want books like Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes?

Our community of 12,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes.

Browse books like Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes

Book cover of A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599
Book cover of Agincourt: Great Battles
Book cover of A Companion to Shakespeare's Works, Volume II: The Histories

Share your top 3 reads of 2025!

And get a beautiful page showing off your 3 favorite reads.

1,341

readers submitted
so far, will you?

📚 If you like Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes, you might also like...

Book cover of Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman

Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman by Alexis Krasilovsky,

Kate from Jules et Jim meets I Love Dick.

A young woman filmmaker’s journey of self-discovery, set against a backdrop of the sexual liberation movement of the 1970s and 1980s. In Portrait of an Artist as a Young Woman, we follow Ana Fried as she faces the ultimate…

Book cover of Malcolm Before X

Malcolm Before X by Patrick Parr,

Malcolm Before X is about finding a way to continue moving forward after everything has been taken from you. While in prison, Malcolm Little discovered the power of reading and found a way to transform his character and become a better man. This half-biography focuses on that transformation, especially his…

5 book lists we think you will like!