Credited on its first title page to William Shakespeare and William Rowley, The Birth of Merlin continues to provoke speculation about its place in the Shakespeare 'Apocrypha'. The play is an imaginative re-working of the story of Merlin the Magician and his part in the struggle against the Saxon invasion of Britain. It contains not only scenes of love, war, and court politics, but a devil, a clown, and an unusual number of spectacular stage effects. This edition seeks to provide contexts for the play's diverse elements (chronicle history, romance, spectacle, and comedy), and considers its relationships with a wide variety of texts from Geoffrey of Monmouth and the English prose Brut to Shakespeare's Henry VIII.

Published in 1993: The first modern scholarly edition of the author's play, not published until 1778. Sebastian reclaims his betrothed from Antonio; the Duchess avenges herself on the Duke for making her drink from her father; and Abberzanes and Francesca have an illicite affair. The witches are credible forces of evil.