The Shakespeare Notebooks

The Shakespeare Notebooks was a book published in the 21st century concerning the so-called Shakespeare Notebooks, a kind of scrapbook kept by William Shakespeare containing early drafts of well-known plays as well as several sonnets other observations all with references to the Doctor.

After obtaining "the rights" to the original Notebooks put together in 1599 and updated until his death, The Shakespeare Notebooks was published. As well as including the Notebooks themselves, it also contained a variety of other contemporary and more modern sources that seemed to have a direct bearing on the "doctor" character.

The inconsistent layout and presentation of the source material was preserved in the publication and each of the main extracts was prefaced with explanatory text. It also acknowledged the uncertainty of the trustworthiness of the source by encouraging the the reader "to determine whether you believe the Shakespeare Notebooks are indeed genuine, or an elaborate hoax" for themselves. (PROSE: Preface to the First Edition)