Samuel A. Tannenbaum
Encyclopedia
Samuel Aaron Tannenbaum was a prolific early-20th-century literary scholar, bibliographer
, and palaeographer
, best known for his work on William Shakespeare
and his contemporaries.
Tannenbaum was born in Hungary
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
; he emigrated to the United States in 1886, the year he turned fourteen, and became a citizen in 1895. Graduating from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
in 1898, he pursued a career in psychotherapy, with a strong interest in the work of Sigmund Freud
. He was part of the circle of early Freud supporters that included Ernest Jones
and Sándor Ferenczi
, and was connected with early efforts to establish an English-language journal of psychotherapy. He published on medical and psychological subjects, including the books The Psychology of Accidents (1924) and The Patient's Dilemma (1935).
He was the editor of the Shakespeare Association Bulletin, and through the first half of the twentieth century produced a wide range of books and articles on Shakespeare and other figures of English Renaissance theatre
and literature. Combining his two major areas of interest, psychology and Elizabethan literature, Tannenbaum was one of the first commentators to consider the nature of Shakespeare's sexuality from a Freudian perspective. He also published a major series of bibliographies on significant Elizabethan and Jacobean figures that were important scholarly resources in their era. His second wife, the former Dorothy Rosenzweig (married 1942), collaborated with him on some of his later publications.
As an amateur or self-taught palaeographer, Tannenbaum took positions and presented arguments on issues involving this area of Shakespeare studies, burgeoning at the time—though he often ended up on the side opposite the evolving scholarly and critical consensus. He was intensely skeptical of the view that Shakespeare contributed to the revision of the play Sir Thomas More, and argued against the work of Sir Edward Maunde Thompson
and his collaborators. Tannenbaum also was deeply involved on the question of the forgeries of John Payne Collier
, to a degree that was thought excessive by other researchers. He believed the entire account book of the Office of the Master of the Revels
was a Collier forgery—an extreme view that has found no other defenders; he was also convinced that Simon Forman
's Book of Plays was a Collier forgery, a position that only a minority of commentators support.
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
, and palaeographer
Palaeography
Palaeography, also spelt paleography is the study of ancient writing. Included in the discipline is the practice of deciphering, reading, and dating historical manuscripts, and the cultural context of writing, including the methods with which writing and books were produced, and the history of...
, best known for his work on William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
and his contemporaries.
Tannenbaum was born in Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire
Austria-Hungary
Austria-Hungary , more formally known as the Kingdoms and Lands Represented in the Imperial Council and the Lands of the Holy Hungarian Crown of Saint Stephen, was a constitutional monarchic union between the crowns of the Austrian Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary in...
; he emigrated to the United States in 1886, the year he turned fourteen, and became a citizen in 1895. Graduating from the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, often known as P&S, is a graduate school of Columbia University that is located on the health sciences campus in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan...
in 1898, he pursued a career in psychotherapy, with a strong interest in the work of Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud
Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...
. He was part of the circle of early Freud supporters that included Ernest Jones
Ernest Jones
Alfred Ernest Jones was a British neurologist and psychoanalyst, and Sigmund Freud’s official biographer. Jones was the first English-speaking practitioner of psychoanalysis and became its leading exponent in the English-speaking world where, as President of both the British Psycho-Analytical...
and Sándor Ferenczi
Sándor Ferenczi
Sándor Ferenczi was a Hungarian psychoanalyst, a key theorist of the psychoanalytic school and a close associate of Sigmund Freud.-Biography:...
, and was connected with early efforts to establish an English-language journal of psychotherapy. He published on medical and psychological subjects, including the books The Psychology of Accidents (1924) and The Patient's Dilemma (1935).
He was the editor of the Shakespeare Association Bulletin, and through the first half of the twentieth century produced a wide range of books and articles on Shakespeare and other figures of English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...
and literature. Combining his two major areas of interest, psychology and Elizabethan literature, Tannenbaum was one of the first commentators to consider the nature of Shakespeare's sexuality from a Freudian perspective. He also published a major series of bibliographies on significant Elizabethan and Jacobean figures that were important scholarly resources in their era. His second wife, the former Dorothy Rosenzweig (married 1942), collaborated with him on some of his later publications.
As an amateur or self-taught palaeographer, Tannenbaum took positions and presented arguments on issues involving this area of Shakespeare studies, burgeoning at the time—though he often ended up on the side opposite the evolving scholarly and critical consensus. He was intensely skeptical of the view that Shakespeare contributed to the revision of the play Sir Thomas More, and argued against the work of Sir Edward Maunde Thompson
Edward Maunde Thompson
Sir Edward Maunde Thompson, GCB was a British palaeographer and Principal Librarian and first Director of the British Museum. He is also noted for his study of William Shakespeare's handwriting in the manuscript of the play Sir Thomas More.-Biography:Thompson's father was Edward Thompson, Custos...
and his collaborators. Tannenbaum also was deeply involved on the question of the forgeries of John Payne Collier
John Payne Collier
John Payne Collier , English Shakespearian critic and forger, was born in London.-Reporter and solicitor:...
, to a degree that was thought excessive by other researchers. He believed the entire account book of the Office of the Master of the Revels
Master of the Revels
The Master of the Revels was a position within the English, and later the British, royal household heading the "Revels Office" or "Office of the Revels" that originally had responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities, known as revels, and later also became responsible for stage censorship,...
was a Collier forgery—an extreme view that has found no other defenders; he was also convinced that Simon Forman
Simon Forman
Simon Forman was arguably the most popular Elizabethan astrologer, occultist and herbalist active in London during the reigns of Queen Elizabeth I and James I of England. His reputation, however, was severely tarnished after his death when he was implicated in the plot to kill Sir Thomas Overbury...
's Book of Plays was a Collier forgery, a position that only a minority of commentators support.
Selected Books by Samuel A. Tannenbaum
- The Shakespeare Coat-of-Arms, 1908
- The Booke of Sir Thomas Moore: A Bibliotic Study, 1927
- Problems in Shakespeare's Penmanship, 1927
- The Assassination of Christopher Marlowe, 1928
- Shakespere Forgeries in the Revels Accounts, 1928
- The Handwriting of the Renaissance, 1930
- Shakespearian Scraps and Other Elizabethan Fragments, 1933
- Christopher Marlowe, A Concise Bibliography, 1937
- Shakespeare's "King Lear," A Concise Bibliography (Elizabethan Bibliographies, No. 16), 1940
- John Webster, A Concise Bibliography (Elizabethan Bibliographies, No. 19), 1941
- Michael Drayton, A Concise Bibliography (Elizabethan Bibliographies, No. 22), 1941
- Sir Philip Sydney, A Concise Bibliography, 1941
- Samuel Daniel, A Concise Bibliography, 1942
- George Herbert, A Concise Bibliography, 1946 (with Dorothy Tannenbaum)