This volume investigates the historical evolution and critical reception of William Shakespeare's works from the seventeenth century through the early twentieth century. David Nichol Smith, a distinguished scholar of English literature, compiles a selection of seminal essays and prefaces to provide a chronological overview of how critical thought regarding the playwright has shifted over time. The text serves as a foundational survey of the methodologies and aesthetic values that have shaped the academic understanding of the Shakespearean canon.

Scholars frequently cite this collection as a useful historical reference for understanding the development of Shakespearean scholarship. Readers often note the academic density of the prose, which reflects the formal critical standards of the era in which it was compiled.