Biographies of Shakespeare

John Aubrey

"Life of Mr. William Shakespear" (c. 1679-80). Probably the earliest account.

Folger page on Aubrey

Nicholas Rowe

"Some Account of the Life, &c. of Mr. William Shakespeare" (1709). As a preface to the first volumes of Rowe's editions.

Augustine Skottowe

The Life of Shakespeare (1824), two volumes

Charles Knight

William Shakspere: A Biography (1843)

James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps

The Life of William Shakespeare (1848)

Henry N. Hudson

Shakespeare: His Life, Art, and Characters (1872), two volumes