Studies in the Shakespeare Apocrypha are too often corrupted by an overly-weighted focus on Shakespeare himself, and the relationship of his plays to those disputed. While this is in itself of cultural and historical interest, it is of the utmost importance that any study of the disputed plays locate them in the wider dramatic climate. To this end, I am reading a wide range of plays from the period.

The table on this page contains a rough chronology of the plays I have read, drawn from the period in which the apocryphal plays first appeared. This table will be regularly updated as I continue my studies.

Dating is a contentious issue in early modern drama, and the dates here represent a mixture of fact and informed conjecture. The aim of this table is not to provide a definitive timeline, but rather to support my own reading by giving a sense of what was happening on the contemporary stage during the years in which the apocryphal plays first appeared. For plays where I have been unable to find any form of consensus over date, I have indicated this with a ? mark.

L-R: Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher, Christopher Marlowe

Notes:
Plays that have been grouped in the Shakespeare Apocrypha are highlighted yellow.
Early texts for plays included in the Shakespeare First Folio are only listed up to 1623.

Year (c.)	Title	Likely dramatist(s)	Early texts
1574?	The Famous Victories of Henry the Fifth	anon.	Quartos (1598, 1617)
1582	The Arraignment of Paris	Peele	Quarto (1584)
1583	Campaspe	Lyly	Quartos (3 x 1584, 1591) 1632 Six Court Comedies collection
1584	Sappho and Phao	Lyly	Quartos (1584 x2, 1591) 1632 Six Court Comedies collection
1584	Galatea	Lyly	Quarto (1592) 1632 Six Court Comedies collection
1585	Dido, Queen of Carthage	Marlowe/ Nashe(?)	Quarto (1594)
1586	The Spanish Tragedy	Kyd (additions later by Jonson)	Quartos (1592, 1594, 1599, 1602) Seven more quartos until 1633
1586	The Weakest Goeth to the Wall	anon. (Munday?)	Quartos (1600, 1618)
1587	1 Tamburlaine	Marlowe	Octavo (1590)
1587	2 Tamburlaine	Marlowe	Octavo (1590)
1587?	Edmond Ironside	anon.	Manuscript
1588?	John a Kent and John a Cumber	Munday	Manuscript
1588	Dr. Faustus	Marlowe	A-text Quarto (1604) B-text Quarto (1616)
1588	Endymion	Lyly	Quarto (1591) 1632 Six Court Comedies collection
1589	Orlando Furioso	Greene	Quartos (1594, 1599)
1589	The Troublesome Reign of King John	anon.	Quarto (1591)
1589	The Two Gentlemen of Verona	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1589	Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay	Greene	Quartos (1594, 1630, 1655)
1590?	King Leir and his Daughters	anon.	Quarto (1605)
1590	Midas	Lyly	Quarto (1592) 1632 Six Court Comedies collection
1590	Arden of Faversham	Shakespeare(?), Kyd(?)	Quartos (1592, 1599, 1633)
1590	Fair Em	Kyd (?)	Quartos (one undated, one 1631)
1590	The Taming of the Shrew	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1590	2 Henry VI	Shakespeare (and others?)	Quartos (1594, 1600, 1619) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1590	The True Tragedy of Richard III	anon.	Quarto (1594)
1590	The Jew of Malta	Marlowe	Quarto (1633)
1590	Mucedorus	anon.	Quartos (1598, 1606, 1610, 1611, 1613, ten more quartos until 1668)
1591	3 Henry VI	Shakespeare (and others?)	Octavo (1595), Quartos (1600, 1619) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1591	Locrine	anon.	Quarto (1595) 1664 Shakespeare Folio
1591	Edward II	Marlowe	Octavo (1594)
1592	Titus Andronicus	Shakespeare/ Peele	Quartos (1594, 1600, 1611) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1592	1 Henry VI	Nashe/ Shakespeare/ Kyd?	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1592?	John of Bordeaux	Chettle, Greene (and others?)	Manuscript
1592	Soliman and Perseda	Kyd	Quartos (1599 x2)
1592	Sir Thomas More	Munday/Chettle	Manuscript
1592?	Jack Straw	anon.	Quartos (1593, 1604)
1592	Richard III	Shakespeare	Quartos (1597, 1598, 1602, 1605, 1612, 1622) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1592	1 Selimus	Greene	Quarto (1594)
1592?/ 1602?	Thomas of Woodstock/ 1 Richard II	anon.	Manuscript
1593	The Massacre at Paris	Marlowe	Quarto (undated)
1593	George a Greene	Greene	Quarto (1599)
1593	The Old Wives Tale	Peele	Quarto (1595)
1594	Cornelia	Kyd	Quartos (1594, 1595)
1594	Edward III	Shakespeare/ Kyd?	Quartos (1596, 1599)
1594	The Comedy of Errors	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1594	Love's Labour's Lost	Shakespeare	Quarto (1598) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1594	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Shakespeare	Quartos (1600, 1619) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1594	Romeo and Juliet	Shakespeare	Quartos (1597, 1599, 1609, 1622) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1595	Richard II	Shakespeare	Quartos (1597, 1598 x2, 1608, 1615) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1595	King John	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1596	The Blind Beggar of Alexandria	Chapman	Quarto (1598)
1596	The Merchant of Venice	Shakespeare	Quartos (1600, 1619) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1596	1 Henry IV	Shakespeare	Quartos (1598 x2, 1599, 1604, 1608, 1613, 1622) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1596	The Merry Wives of Windsor	Shakespeare	Quartos (1602, 1619) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1596	2 Henry IV	Shakespeare	Quarto (1600) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1597	An Humorous Day's Mirth	Chapman	Quarto (1599)
1597	A Warning for Fair Women	anon.	Quarto (1599)
1598	The Downfall of Robert, Earl of Huntington	Munday/Chettle	Quarto (1601)
1598	Much Ado about Nothing	Shakespeare	Quarto (1600) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1598?	Alphonsus, Emperor of Germany	Peele? Chapman?	Quarto (1654)
1598	The Death of Robert, Earl of Huntington	Munday/Chettle	Quarto (1601)
1598	Every Man in his Humour	Jonson	Quarto (1601) 1616 Jonson Folio
1598	The Pilgrimage to Parnassus	anon.	Manuscript
1599	Histriomastix	Marston	Quarto (1610)
1599	Thomas Lord Cromwell	anon.	Quartos (1602, 1613)
1599	1 Sir John Oldcastle	Munday, Drayton, Hathway, Wilson	Quartos (1600, 1619) 1664 Shakespeare Folio
1599	Henry V	Shakespeare	Quartos (1600, 1602, 1619) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1599	1 and 2 Edward IV	Heywood	Quartos (1599, 1600, 1605, 1613, 1619, 1626)
1599	A Larum for London	anon.	Quarto (1602)
1599	Julius Caesar	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1599	Every Man out of His Humour	Jonson	Quartos (1600 x3) 1616 Jonson Folio
1599	The Shoemaker's Holiday	Dekker	Quartos (1600, 1610, 1618, 1624, 1631, 1657)
1599	As You Like It	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1599	1 Return from Parnassus	anon.	Manuscript
1599(?)	All Fools	Chapman	Quarto (1605)
1599	Antonio and Mellida	Marston	Quarto (1602) 1633 octavo collection
1599	Old Fortunatus	Dekker	Quarto (1600)
1600	Patient Grissel	Dekker	Quarto (1603)
1600	Hamlet	Shakespeare	Quartos (1603, 1604, 1611, 1622) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1600	Antonio's Revenge	Marston	Quarto (1602) 1633 octavo collection
1601	Twelfth Night	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1601	2 Return from Parnassus	anon.	Manuscript Quartos (1606 x2)
1601	May Day	Chapman	Quarto (1611)
1601	Poetaster	Jonson	Quarto (1602) 1616 and 1640 Jonson Folios
1601	Satiromastix	Dekker	Quarto (1602)
1602	The Merry Devil of Edmonton	anon.	Quartos (1608, 1612, 1617, 1626, 1631, 1655)
1602	Troilus and Cressida	Shakespeare	Quarto (1609) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1602?	Sir Thomas More (revised version)	Munday/ Dekker/ Shakespeare/ Heywood/ Chettle	Manuscript, first pub. 1844.
1602	The Gentleman Usher	Chapman	Quarto (1606)
1603	Sejanus, his Fall	Jonson	Quarto (1605) 1616 Jonson Folio
1603	The Malcontent	Marston/ later additions by Webster	Quartos (1604 x3)
1603	Measure for Measure	Shakespeare/ later adaptation by Middleton?	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1603	A Woman Killed with Kindness	Heywood	Quartos (1607, 1617)
1603	The Tragedy of Hoffman	Chettle	Quarto (1631)
1603	The Fair Maid of Bristow	anon.	Quarto (1605)
1603	The Phoenix	Middleton	Quartos (1607, 1630)
1604	Othello	Shakespeare	Quarto (1622) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1604	When You See Me, You Know Me	S. Rowley	Quartos (1605, 1613, 1621, 1632)
1604	The Patient Man and the Honest Whore	Middleton/Dekker	Quartos (1604 x2, 1605, 1615, 1635)
1604	The Wise Woman of Hogsdon	Heywood	Quarto (1638)
1604	All's Well that Ends Well	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1604	Bussy D'Ambois	Chapman	Quartos (1607, 1641)
1604	Sir Thomas Wyatt	Dekker/Webster	Quartos (1607, 1612)
1604	The Widow's Tears	Chapman	Quarto (1612)
1604	Timon of Athens	Shakespeare/ Middleton	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1604	Michaelmas Term	Middleton	Quartos (1607, 1630)
1604	The London Prodigal	anon., attrib. Shakespeare	Quarto (1605) 1664 Shakespeare Folio
1604	1 If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody	Heywood	Quartos (1605, 1606, 1608, 1610, 1613, 1623, 1632, 1639)
1605	Monsieur D'Olive	Chapman	Quarto (1606)
1605	A Trick to Catch the Old One	Middleton	Quartos (1608, 1616)
1605	A Mad World, My Masters	Middleton	Quartos (1608, 1640)
1605	King Lear	Shakespeare	Quartos (1608, 1619) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1605	2 If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody	Heywood	Quartos (1606, 1609, 1623, 1633)
1605	Eastward Ho	Chapman/ Jonson/ Marston	Quartos (1605 x3)
1605	Macbeth	Shakespeare/ Middleton	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1605	The Yorkshire Tragedy	Middleton/ Shakespeare?	Quartos (1608, 1619) 1664 Shakespeare Folio
1606	The Miseries of Enforced Marriage	Wilkins	Quartos (1607, 1611, 1629, 1637)
1606	The Puritan	Middleton	Quarto (1607) 1664 Shakespeare Folio
1606	Volpone	Jonson	Quarto (1607) 1616 Jonson Folio
1606	The Revenger's Tragedy	Middleton	Quarto (1607)
1607	Antony and Cleopatra	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1607	The Knight of the Burning Pestle	Beaumont	Quartos (1613, 1635, 1650s) 1679 Beaumont/Fletcher Folio
1607	Your Five Gallants	Middleton	Quarto (1608)
1607	The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles Duke of Byron	Chapman	Quartos (1608, 1625)
1608	Pericles, Prince of Tyre	Shakespeare/ Wilkins	Quartos (1609 x2, 1611, 1619, 1630, 1635) 1623 Shakespeare Folio
1608	Coriolanus	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1608	The Faithful Shepherdess	Fletcher	Quarto (undated, c.1609-10)
1608	The Bloody Banquet	Dekker/Middleton	Quarto (1639)
1609	The Winter's Tale	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1609	Philaster; Or, Love Lies a-Bleeding	Beaumont/Fletcher	Quartos (1620, 1622, 1628, 1634, 1639, 1652, 1661 x2, 1689) 1679 Beaumont/Fletcher Folio
1609	Cymbeline	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1609	Epicene, or The Silent Woman	Jonson	1616 Jonson Folio
1610	The Insatiate Countess	Marston/Barksted/Machin	Quartos (1613, 1616, 1631)
1610	Catiline	Jonson	Quartos (1611, 1637) 1616 and 1640 Jonson Folios
1610	The Tamer Tamed; or, The Woman's Prize	Fletcher	Manuscript 1647 Beaumont/Fletcher Folio
1610	The Alchemist	Jonson	Quarto (1612) 1616 Jonson Folio
1610	The Maid's Tragedy	Beaumont/Fletcher	Quartos (1619, 1622, 1630) 1679 Beaumont/Fletcher Folio
1611	The Roaring Girl	Middleton/ Dekker	Quarto (1611)
1611	No Wit/Help Like a Woman's; or, The Almanac	Middleton	Octavo (1657)
1611	The Lady's Tragedy  (The Second Maiden's Tragedy)	Middleton	Manuscript
1611	The Tempest	Shakespeare	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1611	The Atheist's Tragedy	Tourneur	Quarto (1611/2
1611	A King and No King	Beaumont/ Fletcher	Quartos (1619, 1625, 1631, 1639, 1655, 1611, 1676, 1693) 1679 Beaumont and Fletcher Folio
1612	The White Devil	Webster	Quartos (1612, 1631, 1665, 1672)
1613	The Honest Man's Fortune	Field/ Fletcher/ Massinger	Manuscript (1613) 1647 Beaumont/Fletcher Folio
1613	Cardenio/ Double Falsehood	Shakespeare/ Fletcher/ Theobald	1727 edition by Theobald
1613	A Chaste Maid in Cheapside	Middleton	Quarto (1630)
1613	Henry VIII (All is True)	Shakespeare/ Fletcher	1623 Shakespeare Folio
1613	Wit at Several Weapons	Middleton/Rowley	1647 Beaumont/Fletcher Folio
1613	The Two Noble Kinsmen	Shakespeare/ Fletcher	Quarto (1634) 1679 Beaumont/Fletcher Folio
1614	The Duchess of Malfi	Webster	Quartos (1623, 1640, 1678)
1614	Bartholomew Fair	Jonson	Quarto (1631) 1641 Jonson Folio
1614	More Dissemblers Besides Women	Middleton	Octavo (1657)
1614	Valentinian	Fletcher	1647 and 1679 Beaumont/Fletcher Folios
1615	Women Beware Women	Middleton	Octavo (1657)
1615	The Widow	Middleton	Quarto (1652)
1616	The Witch	Middleton	Manuscript
1616	The Devil is an Ass	Jonson	1641 Jonson Folio
1616	A Fair Quarrel	Middleton/ Rowley	Quartos (1617, 1622)
1618	An/The Old Law (A New Way to Please You)	Middleton/ Rowley	Quarto (1656)
1619	The Devil's Law-Case	Webster	Quarto (1623)
1620	The World Tossed at Tennis	Middleton/Rowley	Quarto (1620)
1621	The Witch of Edmonton	Dekker/ Rowley/ Ford	Quarto (1658)
1621	Anything for a Quiet Life	Middleton/Webster	Quarto (1662)
1622	The Birth of Merlin	Rowley	Quarto (1662)
1622	An Invention	Middleton
1622	The Changeling	Middleton/ Rowley	Quarto (1653)
1622	The Nice Valour; Or, The Passionate Madman	Middleton	1647 and 1679 Beaumont/Fletcher Folios
1623	The Renegado	Massinger	Quarto (1630)
1623	The Spanish Gypsy	Ford/Dekker/Middleton/Rowley	Quartos (1653, 1661)
1624	The English Traveller	Heywood	Quarto (1633)
1624	A Game at Chess	Middleton	Quartos (2 x 1625) Manuscripts (six)
1624	The Captives	Heywood	Manuscript
1625	A New Way to Pay Old Debts	Massinger	Quarto (1633)
1625	A Cure for a Cuckold	Webster/ Rowley	Quarto (1661)
1626	The Roman Actor	Massinger	Quarto (1629)
1629	The New Inn	Jonson	Octavo (1631) 1692 Jonson Folio
1630	Believe as You List	Massinger	Manuscript
1631	'Tis Pity She's a Whore	Ford	Quarto (1633)
1632	The Magnetic Lady	Jonson	1641 Jonson Folio
1632	The City Madam	Massinger	Quarto (1658/9)
1641	The Cardinal	Shirley	Six New Plays octavo collection (1653)