Originally published in 1956 as part of the Shakespeare Problems series, this two-volume work contains a survey of contemporary proposals for the restoration of the 'true text' of Shakespearean plays. This first volume assesses various points of contention in the Comedies and in Shakespeare's poems The Rape of Lucrece, Venus and Adonis, A Lover's Complaint, The Passionate Pilgrim and the well-known Sonnets. This book will be of value to anyone with an interest in the reconstruction of Shakespeare's plays and in the history of Shakespearean textual criticism.