1.) The Death of Hamnet and the Making of Hamlet, by: Stephen Greenblatt in a response . . . to the tragedies.
2.) The Flowering of New England 1815-1865, by, Van Wyck Brooks in Shakespeare vs. Poe. This book is amazing it provided perspective on the authors during this time from the point of view of people who actually knew the authors. It is a bit long so you might want to kind of pick and choose and skim but it is hilarious and full of fabulous information.
3.) Critical Theory Since Plato in how can you doubt . . .
4.) Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, by: Harold Bloom
5.) The Bedford Companion to Shakespeare, by: Russ McDonald
6.) The website William Shakespeare is not very formal bu proved invaluable in the following posts: slipped my mind, the post about witches and ghosts, about the author. This site is somewhat sketchy looking but all to the information checked out with other sites.
7.) The Arden Dictionary of Shakespeare Quotes, in a picture worth a thousand words.
8.) William Shakespeare Biography was another website that was indispensable to the about the author post.
