Lesser Named Edward W. Kane Professor of English

Zachary Lesser, Professor of English, has been appointed Edward W. Kane Professor of English.  A leading scholar in English Renaissance drama and the history of the book, Lesser is a general editor of The Arden Shakespeare. He is known for his early contributions to the digital humanities, including co-creating DEEP: Database of Early English Playbooks, launched in 2007 as an online resource for studying the printing, publishing, and marketing of Renaissance drama. Both of his books, Hamlet after Q1: An Uncanny History of the Shakespearean Text and Renaissance Drama and the Politics of Publication: Readings in the English Book Trade, won the Elizabeth Dietz Award for the best book of the year in early modern literary studies, making Lesser the only two-time winner of the prize. His new book, Ghosts, Holes, Rips and Scrapes: Shakespeare in 1619, Bibliography in the Longue Durée, will appear soon from Penn Press.

This professorship was established by Edward W. Kane, C’71 and Martha J. Wallace to support a preeminent scholar and teacher in the Department of English. Kane has served as a University trustee and on the School of Veterinary Medicine Board of Overseers.