George Koppelman and Daniel Wechsler

Shakespeare’s Beehive: An Annotated Elizabethan Dictionary Comes to Light

In a newly published study, Shakespeare’s Beehive: An Annotated Elizabethan Dictionary Comes to Light, antiquarian booksellers George Koppelman and Daniel Wechsler conclude that the annotations in their copy of Baret’s Alvearie purchased on eBay belong to William Shakespeare. Using example after example, the authors demonstrate how closely the annotations and Baret’s text are tied to Shakespeare’s own work. The annotator, while not once leaving his name on a page, nevertheless leaves behind an astonishing personal trail of fingerprints.

Visit shakespearesbeehive.com for more information.

“All scholars of early modern books and literate culture should be interested in Koppelman and Wechsler’s copy of Baret’s dictionary. The owners of this book have done the world a service by creating a website where these annotations can be studied.”
–Michael Witmore and Heather Wolfe, Folger Shakespeare Library

“The ordinariness of the individual annotations is, to me, precisely what argues for their authenticity: they form not a rough draft of any single text, but a tool kit. The connections between Baret’s word store and the plays and poems all point to the transformation that occurs in the space between an author’s notes and composition: the play of language.”
–Henry Wessells, The Endless Bookshelf

“The finding could add a great deal of knowledge to contemporary understandings of Shakespeare.”
–Robinson Meyer, The Atlantic

“It will surely become part of the canon of information currently available, and perhaps inspire further inquiry or become a stepping stone for something greater.”
–Sunday Steinkirchner, Forbes

More reviews at shakespearesbeehive.com

Share to Facebook Tweet More...

© 2025 Sanctuary Books, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Site by Kind Company.