The precise chronology of Shakespeare's plays as they were first written and performed is impossible to determine, as there is no authoritative record and many of the plays were performed many years before they were published.

Pirated editions are the first printed versions of several plays, but many of Shakespeare's works remained unpublished until the First Folio (1623). There is no play mentioned as Shakespeare's by his contemporaries that we do not have, except Cardenio and Love's Labour's Won. Shakespeare's exact role in writing numerous existing plays is debated, however. Shakespeare redirects here. ... The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeares plays; its actual title is Mr. ... Year 1623 (MDCXXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Publicity poster for the 2002 Los Angeles production of The Second Maidens Tragedy as The History of Cardenio is a lost play, known to have been performed by the Kings Men, a London theatre company, in 1613. ... Loves Labours Won, alternatively written Loves labours wonne, is the name of a play written by William Shakespeare before 1598. ...

Scholars beginning with Edmond Malone have reconstructed the plays' relative chronology by various means, including contemporary allusions and records of performance, entries in the Stationers' Register, dates of publication as reflected on the title pages of individual plays, visceral impressions and computer studies of the development of the playwright's writing style over time, and (particularly) a 1598 list of many of Shakespeare's plays then extant by Francis Meres. Edmond Malone (October 4, 1741 - April 25, 1812), was an Irish Shakespearean scholar and editor of the works of William Shakespeare. ... The Stationers Register was a journal maintained by the Stationers Company of London. ... Francis Meres (1565 - January 29, 1647), was an English churchman and author. ...

While many Stratfordian scholars have adopted a generally accepted order^{[citation needed]} (see below), many dates continue to be debated and all dates should be taken as highly speculative. A number of orthodox scholars, as well as most Oxfordian researchers (so called because of their belief in the authorship by Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford), disagree with this Stratfordian dating (dissenting view: Chronology of Shakespeare's Plays - Oxfordian). Also see Shakespeare Authorship. The Earl of Oxford, from the 1914 publication English Travellers of the Renaissance by Clare Howard. ... The precise chronology of Shakespeares plays as they were first written is impossible to determine, as there is no authoritative record and many of the plays were performed many years before they were published. ... This portrait, called the Chandos portrait, hangs in the National Portrait Gallery. ...

List of Plays with Estimated Dates

(Dates in parentheses indicate the date of first publication only.)

• 1590 (1598) Henry VI, Part I

  Stationers' Register on 25 February 1598.

• 1590 (1594) Henry VI, Part II
• 1590 (1595) Henry VI, Part III

  Parodied by Robert Greene in 1592.

• 1592 (1602) Richard III

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1592 (1623) The Comedy of Errors

  If this is the same as the play entitled "The Night of Errors," it was performed on 28 December 1594. Probably the "errors" in Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1593 (1594) Titus Andronicus

  According to the first published edition it was performed by a company that folded in early 1593. In 1594 Philip Henslowe referred to it as a "new" play. In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1593 (1623) Taming of the Shrew
• 1594 (1623) The Two Gentlemen of Verona

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays. The work may have been based on Bartholomew Yong's translation of Montemayor's Diana, which was done in 1583 but not published until 1598.

• 1594 (1598) Love's Labour's Lost

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1591-1596 (1597) Romeo and Juliet

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1595 (1597) Richard II

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1595 (1600) A Midsummer Night's Dream

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1596 (1622) King John

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1596 (1600) The Merchant of Venice

  Recorded at Stationers' Register on 22 July 1598. In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1597 Henry IV, Part I

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays.

• 1594-1597 (1603?) Love's Labour's Won

  In Francis Meres' 1598 list of Shakespeare plays. In Christopher Hunt's August 1603 booklist. A lost play.

• 1598 (1600) Henry IV, Part II
• 1599 (1600) Henry V

  Chorus expresses hope for the Earl of Essex's Irish expedition of 1599.

• 1599 (1623) Julius Caesar

  Mentioned by Thomas Platter in 1599.

• 1599 (1600) Much Ado About Nothing
• 1599 (1623) As You Like It

  Stationers' Register in August 1600

• 1597-1600 (1602) The Merry Wives of Windsor
• 1599-1600 (1603) Hamlet

  Stationers' Register in July 1602 describes it as “lately acted.”

• 1602 (1623) Twelfth Night
• 1602 (1609) Troilus and Cressida

  Stationers' Register in February 1603.

• 1603 (1623) All's Well That Ends Well

  No contemporary reference.

• 1603 (1622) Othello

  Performed November 1604.

• 1603-06 (1608) King Lear

  Stationers' Register in November 1607.

• 1603-06 (1623) Macbeth
• 1603 (1623) Measure for Measure

  Court records show it was performed December 1604.

• 1606 (1623) Antony and Cleopatra

  Stationers' Register in May 1608.

• 1607 (1623) Coriolanus
• 1607 (1623) Timon of Athens (probably revised by Thomas Middleton)
• 1608 (1609) Pericles Prince of Tyre (probably revised by George Wilkins)

  Stationers' Register in May 1608.

• 1609 (1623) Cymbeline
• 1594-1610 (1623) The Winter's Tale ^[1]
• 1611 (1623) The Tempest
• 1612 (1623) Henry VIII (probably written in collaboration with John Fletcher)

  Was performed on 29 June 1613, when the Globe Theatre burnt down.

• 1612 (1728) Cardenio (written in collaboration with John Fletcher)

  Was performed in 1613. Published only in an adaptation by Lewis Theobald entitled Double Falshood; essentially a lost play.

• 1612 (1634) The Two Noble Kinsmen (written in collaboration with John Fletcher).

The following plays have been attributed to Shakespeare but are in fact of different or uncertain authorship: King Henry VI Part 1 is one of the history plays of William Shakespeare. ... is the 56th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... The play we know as King Henry VI Part II was originally known as The First Part of the Contention betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster. ... Henry VI Part III is the third of William Shakespeares plays set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England, and prepares the ground for one of his best-known and most controversial plays: the tragedy of King Richard III (Richard III of England). ... Robert Greene Robert Greene, BA, MA, (1558 – September 3, 1592) was an English playwright, poet, pamphleteer, and prose writer. ... Frontispage of the First Quarto Richard The Third. ... Poster for a performance The Comedy of Errors is one of William Shakespeares early plays, written between 1592 and 1594. ... is the 362nd day of the year (363rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events February 27 - Henry IV is crowned King of France at Rheims. ... Title page of the first quarto edition (1594) The Tragedy of Titus Andronicus may be Shakespeares earliest tragedy. ... Philip Henslowe (c 1550 - January 6, 1616) was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur. ... The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare from early in his career. ... For the film, see Loves Labours Lost (2000 film). ... Romeo and Juliet in the famous balcony scene by Ford Madox Brown For other uses, see Romeo and Juliet (disambiguation). ... Title page of Richard II, from the fifth quarto, published in 1615. ... For other uses, see A Midsummer Nights Dream (disambiguation). ... The Life and Death of King John is one of the Shakespearean histories, plays written by William Shakespeare and based on the history of England. ... Portia and Shylock (1835) by Thomas Sully The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeares best-known plays, written sometime between 1596 and 1598. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January 7 - Boris Godunov seizes the throne of Russia following the death of his brother-in-law, Tsar Feodor I. April 13 - Edict of Nantes - Henry IV of France grants French Huguenots equal rights with Catholics. ... Although at its first publication in 1598 it was titled The History of Henrie the Fourth, this play by William Shakespeare is the tale of the coming-of-age of the future Henry V—young Prince Hal, the compatriot of Falstaff and other disreputable rascals. ... Loves Labours Won, alternatively written Loves labours wonne, is the name of a play written by William Shakespeare before 1598. ... Henry IV, Part II is William Shakespeares history play that continues the story begun in Henry IV, Part I. Prince Hal, the future Henry V, rejects Falstaff in order to take the throne of England. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Henry V, also known as The Cronicle History of Henry the fift, is a play by William Shakespeare based on the life of King Henry V of England. ... Julius Caesar is a tragedy by William Shakespeare. ... Thomas Platter (the Elder) (February 10, 1499 in Grächen, Valais - January 26, 1582 in Basel) was a humanist scholar and writer. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... Walter Deverell,The Mock Marriage of Orlando and Rosalind, 1853 William Shakespeares As You Like It is a pastoral comedy written in 1599 or early 1600. ... Title page of the 1602 quarto The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare featuring the fat knight Sir John Falstaff and is Shakespeares only play to deal exclusively with contemporary English life. ... For other uses, see Hamlet (disambiguation). ... Twelfth Night, or What You Will is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... For the Chaucer poem, see Troilus and Criseyde. ... For the Chiodos album, see Alls Well That Ends Well (album). ... For other uses, see Othello (disambiguation). ... King Lear and the Fool in the Storm by William Dyce (1806-1864) King Lear is a play by William Shakespeare, considered one of his greatest tragedies, based on the legend of King Lear of Britain. ... This article is about Shakespeares play. ... Claudio and Isabella (1850) by William Holman Hunt Measure for Measure is a play by William Shakespeare, written in 1603. ... Anthony and Cleopatra, by Lawrence Alma-Tadema. ... Venturia at the Feet of Coriolanus by Gaspare Landi Photo courtesy of The VRoma Project. ... For other uses, see Timon (disambiguation). ... Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a play written partly by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected plays. ... Dame Ellen Terry as Imogen This article is about Shakespeares play. ... Florizel and Perdita by Charles Robert Leslie. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Dame Ellen Terry as Katherine of Aragon The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eighth was one of the last plays written by the English playwright William Shakespeare, based on the life of Henry VIII of England. ... John Fletcher (1579-1625) was a Jacobean playwright. ... is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events January - Galileo observes Neptune, but mistakes it for a star and so is not credited with its discovery. ... Publicity poster for the 2002 Los Angeles production of The Second Maidens Tragedy as The History of Cardenio is a lost play, known to have been performed by the Kings Men, a London theatre company, in 1613. ... Lewis Theobald (1688 - 1744), British textual editor and author, was a landmark figure both in the history of Shakespearean editing and in literary satire. ... Double Falshood (sometimes erroneously listed as The Double Falshood) is a play by Lewis Theobald, first produced on December 13, 1727 at the Drury Lane Theatre and published in 1728, which he claimed to have based on three manuscripts dating from the time of the English Restoration of an unnamed... The Two Noble Kinsmen is a play written in 1613 by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare in collaboration. ...

• 1592-1595 (1844) Sir Thomas More

  Originally written by Anthony Munday and Henry Chettle, and heavily revised perhaps ten years later by Thomas Heywood, Thomas Dekker and (perhaps) William Shakespeare, whose writing has been tentatively identified as "Hand D" in the manuscript.

• 1600 (1600) Sir John Oldcastle

  Philip Henslowe's diary records it was actually written by Anthony Munday, Michael Drayton, Richard Hathwaye and Robert Wilson in collaboration.

• 1604 (1605) The London Prodigal

  Acted by Shakespeare's company and published under his name, but the style is not his.

• 1605 (1608) A Yorkshire Tragedy

  Acted by Shakespeare's company and published under his name, but the style is not his. More probably by Thomas Middleton.

Playtext from the 2005 Royal Shakespeare Company production. ... Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560?–August 10, 1633), was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. ... Henry Chettle (1564?-1607?) was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer of the Elizabethan era. ... Thomas Heywood (died approx. ... Thomas Dekker, (c. ... Sir John Oldcastle is an Elizabethan play about John Oldcastle, a controversial 14th-15th century rebel and Lollard who was seen by some of Shakespeares contemporaries as a proto-Protestant martyr. ... Philip Henslowe (c 1550 - January 6, 1616) was an Elizabethan theatrical entrepreneur. ... Anthony Munday (or Monday) (1560?–August 10, 1633), was an English dramatist and miscellaneous writer. ... Drayton, 1628 Michael Drayton (1563 – December 23, 1631) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era. ... Richard Hathwaye (fl. ... Robert Wilson (fl. ... The London Prodigal is a city comedy set in London in which a prodigal son learns the error of his ways. ... A Yorkshire Tragedy was an English play printed in 1608. ... Thomas Middleton (1580 – 1627) was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. ...

See also

• Shakespeare's plays
• Shakespeare Apocrypha

Sir John Gilberts 1849 painting: The Plays of William Shakespeare, containing scenes and characters from several of William Shakespeares plays. ... The Shakespeare Apocrypha is the name given to a group of plays that have sometimes been attributed to William Shakespeare, but whose attribution is questionable for various reasons. ...

External links

• Narrative and Dramatic Sources of all Shakespeare's works Also publication years and chronology of Shakespeare plays
• http://shakespeareauthorship.com/howdowe.html#1
• http://shakespeare.palomar.edu/meres.htm
• http://www.dlhoffman.com/publiclibrary/Shakespeare/by-year.html
• http://www.shakespeare-online.com/keydates/playchron.html
• http://web.uvic.ca/shakespeare/Library/SLT/reference/plays1588-1595.html
• http://www.shaksper.net/archives/files/chronology.html
• Shakespeare's Works: A Timeline

	William Shakespeare and his works
General information	Biography | Style | influence | Reputation | Religion | Sexuality | Shakespearean Authorship Question
Tragedies	Antony and Cleopatra | Coriolanus | Hamlet | Julius Caesar | King Lear | Macbeth | Othello | Romeo and Juliet | Timon of Athens | Titus Andronicus | Troilus and Cressida
Comedies	All's Well That Ends Well | As You Like It | The Comedy of Errors | Cymbeline | Love's Labour's Lost | Measure for Measure | The Merchant of Venice | The Merry Wives of Windsor | A Midsummer Night's Dream | Much Ado About Nothing | Pericles, Prince of Tyre | The Taming of the Shrew | The Tempest | Twelfth Night | The Two Gentlemen of Verona | The Two Noble Kinsmen | The Winter's Tale
Histories	King John | Richard II | Henry IV, Part 1 | Henry IV, Part 2 | Henry V | Henry VI, part 1 | Henry VI, part 2 | Henry VI, part 3 | Richard III | Henry VIII
Poems	Sonnets | Venus and Adonis | The Rape of Lucrece | The Passionate Pilgrim | The Phoenix and the Turtle | A Lover's Complaint
Apocrypha and Lost Plays	Edward III | Sir Thomas More | Cardenio (lost) | Love's Labour's Won (lost) | The Birth of Merlin | Locrine | The London Prodigal | The Puritan | The Second Maiden's Tragedy | Richard II, Part I: Thomas of Woodstock | Sir John Oldcastle | Thomas Lord Cromwell | A Yorkshire Tragedy | Fair Em | Mucedorus | The Merry Devil of Edmonton | Arden of Faversham | Edmund Ironside | Vortigern and Rowena
Other play information	Shakespeare's plays | Shakespeare in performance | Chronology of Shakespeare plays | Oxfordian chronology | Shakespeare on screen | BBC Television Shakespeare | Titles based on Shakespeare | List of characters A-K · L-Z | Problem Plays | List of historical characters | Ghost characters