'TWO NOBLE KINSMEN'
SIR.—Mr. William Golding writes that 'for hundreds of years even reputable scholars have thought tho Two Noble Kinsmen was by Shakespeare.' As far as I know, only one American scholar, in a recent unpublished dissertation, has held that it is all bY Shakespeare. That it is in part by Shakespeare Is stated in the Stationers' Registry entry and on the title-page of the 1634 edition, and is amply confirmed by internal evidence: see, most recently, Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare as Collaborator, especially pi,. 111-2 on the implications of supposing that he wns not the author of the 'Shakespearian' scenes.
Mr. Golding refers to Beaumont as if he were also concerned in the play. It would be hard to malte out a case for any substantial contribution from hill"' —Yours faithfully, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1
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