Thiel English professor’s review of groundbreaking study of Shakespeare biography published

Posted August 03, 2023 Print

GREENVILLE, Pa.-- Thiel College Professor of English Mary Theresa Hall, Ph.D. recently had her review of Zachary Lesser’s book on Shakespeare published in The Sixteenth-Century Journal: The Journal of Early Modern Studies.

Hall’s review of Lesser’s “Ghosts, Holes. Rips and Scrapes: Shakespeare in 1619, Bibliography in the Longue Durée” was recently published in the fall 2022 issue of the journal. The journal’s publication was delayed because of the global pandemic. This groundbreaking study of Shakespeare biography uses the argot terms—a specialized vocabulary or language used by people in specific professions, groups, or subcultures— particular to the printer’s trade as the book’s title and chapter titles to highlight the broader, long-term historical structures (the longue durée methodological approach) rather than the short-term time frame often used in Shakespeare bibliographic studies. This work was produced as part of a publishing partnership between Penn Press and the Folger Shakespeare Library, an independent research library on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. which has the world’s largest collection of the printed works of William Shakespeare, and strikes a balance between being technical and innovative, detailed and absorbing in its discussion of the printing and publishing of Shakespeare’s works, according to Hall.

Although bibliographic study is empirical and scientific, Lesser’s work also conveys a historical narrative and succeeds in making his scholarship a humanistic study that invites the reader to consider the long view of writing, imprinting, circulating, packaging, and restoring the Quarto and other Shakespeare publications, Hall said.

A native of Pittsburgh, Hall received a bachelor’s degree in English and secondary certification in English and French from Seton Hill University, a master’s degree in literature from Carnegie Mellon University, and a doctorate from Duquesne University. She served previously as faculty chair of Thiel College.

In 2002, Hall was chosen as the College’s Distinguished Faculty Scholar; in 2003, as the Professor of the Year. In 2006, she received the Distinguished Faculty Service Award; and in 2013, the Distinguished Teacher Award. Most recently, Hall was honored with the Thiel College Dietrich Honors Institute inaugural DHI Professor of the Year Award. Her work has been published in academic journals and presented at academic conferences.