Samuel Aaron Tannenbaum (1874–1948) was a literary scholar,

bibliographer Bibliography (from and ), as a discipline, is traditionally the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology (from ). English author and bibliographer John Carter describes ''bibliograph ...

, and

palaeographer Palaeography ( UK) or paleography ( US) (ultimately from , , 'old', and , , 'to write') is the study and academic discipline of historical writing systems. It encompasses the historicity of manuscripts and texts, subsuming deciphering and dati ...

, best known for his work on

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

and his contemporaries.

Life and career

Tannenbaum was born in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

, then part of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

. He immigrated to the United States in 1886, the year he turned fourteen, and became a citizen in 1895. Graduating from the

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons The Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons (officially known as Columbia University Roy and Diana Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons) is the medical school of Columbia University, located at the Columbia University Irvin ...

in 1898, he pursued a career in psychotherapy, with a strong interest in the work of

Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud ( ; ; born Sigismund Schlomo Freud; 6 May 1856 – 23 September 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of psychoanalysis, a clinical method for evaluating and treating psychopathology, pathologies seen as originating fro ...

. He was part of the circle of early Freud supporters that included

Ernest Jones Alfred Ernest Jones (1 January 1879 – 11 February 1958) was a Welsh neurologist and psychoanalyst. A lifelong friend and colleague of Sigmund Freud from their first meeting in 1908, he became his official biographer. Jones was the first En ...

and

Sándor Ferenczi Sándor Ferenczi (; 7 July 1873 – 22 May 1933) was a Hungarian Psychoanalysis, psychoanalyst, a key theorist of the psychoanalytic school and a close associate of Sigmund Freud. Biography Born Sándor Fraenkel to Baruch Fränkel and Rosa ...

, and was connected with early efforts to establish an English-language journal of psychotherapy. He published on medical and psychological subjects, including the books ''The Psychology of Accidents'' (1924) and ''The Patient's Dilemma'' (1935). He was the editor of the ''Shakespeare Association Bulletin,'' and through the first half of the twentieth century produced a wide range of books and articles on Shakespeare and other figures of

English Renaissance theatre The English Renaissance theatre or Elizabethan theatre was the theatre of England from 1558 to 1642. Its most prominent playwrights were William Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. Background The term ''English Renaissance theatr ...

and literature. Combining his two major areas of interest, psychology and Elizabethan literature, Tannenbaum was one of the first commentators to consider the nature of Shakespeare's sexuality from a Freudian perspective. He also published a major series of bibliographies on significant Elizabethan and Jacobean figures that were important scholarly resources in their era. His second wife, the former Dorothy Rosenzweig (married 1942), collaborated with him on some of his later publications. As an amateur or self-taught palaeographer, Tannenbaum took positions and presented arguments on issues involving this area of Shakespeare studies, burgeoning at the time—though he often ended up on the side opposite the evolving scholarly and critical consensus. He was intensely skeptical of the view that Shakespeare contributed to the revision of the play ''

Sir Thomas More Sir Thomas More (7 February 1478 – 6 July 1535), venerated in the Catholic Church as Saint Thomas More, was an English lawyer, judge, social philosopher, author, statesman, theologian, and noted Renaissance humanist. He also served Henry V ...

,'' and argued against the work of Sir

Edward Maunde Thompson Sir Edward Maunde Thompson (4 May 1840 – 14 September 1929) was a British palaeographer and Principal Librarian and first director of the British Museum. He is noted for his handbook of Greek and Latin palaeography and for his study of W ...

and his collaborators. Tannenbaum also was deeply involved on the question of the forgeries of

John Payne Collier John Payne Collier (11 January 178917 September 1883) was an English writer and scholar. He was well known for publishing many books on Shakespeare. However, his reputation has declined as a result of the Perkins Folio forgery. Reporter and soli ...

. He believed the entire account book of the Office of the

Master of the Revels The Master of the Revels was the holder of a position within the English, and later the British, royal household, heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels". The Master of the Revels was an executive officer under the Lord Chamberla ...

was a Collier forgery—a view that has found no other defenders, though several other scholars, such as Charlotte Stopes, argued that the Revels accounts book was a partial forgery. He was also convinced that

Simon Forman Simon Forman (31 December 1552 – 5 or 12 September 1611) was an Elizabethan astrologer, occultist and herbalist active in London during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and James I of England. His reputation, however, was severely tarnishe ...

's ''Book of Plays'' was a Collier forgery, a position that only a minority of commentators support.

Selected books

*''The Shakespeare Coat-of-Arms,'' 1908 *''The Booke of Sir Thomas Moore: A Bibliotic Study,'' 1927 *''Problems in Shakespeare's Penmanship,'' 1927 *''The Assassination of Christopher Marlowe,'' 1928 *''Shakespere Forgeries in the Revels Accounts,'' 1928 *''The Handwriting of the Renaissance,'' 1930 *''Shakespearian Scraps and Other Elizabethan Fragments,'' 1933 *''Christopher Marlowe, A Concise Bibliography,'' 1937 *''Shakespeare's "King Lear," A Concise Bibliography (Elizabethan Bibliographies, No. 16),'' 1940 *''John Webster, A Concise Bibliography (Elizabethan Bibliographies, No. 19),'' 1941 *''Michael Drayton, A Concise Bibliography (Elizabethan Bibliographies, No. 22),'' 1941 *''Sir Philip Sydney, A Concise Bibliography,'' 1941 *''Samuel Daniel, A Concise Bibliography,'' 1942 *''George Herbert, A Concise Bibliography,'' 1946 (with Dorothy Tannenbaum)

References

* F. E. Halliday, ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564-1964,'' Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tannenbaum, Samuel A. 1874 births 1948 deaths category:19th-century American Jews 19th-century Hungarian people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century Hungarian people American bibliographers American male non-fiction writers American palaeographers American people of Hungarian-Jewish descent Columbia University Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons alumni Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Hungarian bibliographers Hungarian Jews Hungarian palaeographers Jewish American non-fiction writers Shakespearean scholars