Shakespeare and the Idea of Apocrypha

"The Idea of Apocrypha All held Apocrypha, not worth survey. Falsehoods On 2 April 1796, London's Drury Lane Theatre presented a recently unearthed play by William Shakespeare. Vortigern and Rowena, 'discovered' by William Henry Ireland, played to a derisive crowd, whose disbelief in the play's authenticity was shared by the theatre's manager, John Philip Kemble. Kemble, in the lead role, pointedly repeated the line 'and when this solemn mock'ry is ended', inviting ridicule from the crowd. The production was not revived, and the whole incident contributed to the unravelling of Ireland's claims. The authenticity of the play - along with the other purportedly Shakespearean documents unearthed by Ireland and his father Samuel - had been attacked only a fortnight earlier by the leading Shakespearean editor of the day, Edmond Malone, in An Inquiry into the Authenticity of Certain Miscellaneous Papers and Legal Instruments. Malone's statement of intent makes clear his chosen role as a defender of Shakespeare: It has been said, and I believe truly, that every individual of this country, whose mind has been at all cultivated, feels a pride in being able to boast of our great dramatick poet, Shakspeare, as his countryman:"--