The Life of Henry, Third Earl of Southampton, Shakespeare's Patron

Preface; Hints of readers; 1. Lord Wriothesley's infancy; 2. The boyhood of the Earl; 3. The Earl's first association with St John's College, Cambridge; 4. Proposals for marriage; 5. The patron; 6. The Earl's majority; 7. Causes of gossip; 8. Sea dreams and actions, 1596–7; 9. The two Countesses of Southampton; 10. The Irish campaign; 11. The quarrel between Lord Grey of Wilton and the Earl of Southampton, 1599–1604; 12. The perils of 'contempt', 1599–1600; 13. The conspiracy, 1600–1; 14. Judgments; 15. Clearing up; 16. A lampoon of the day, 1601; 17. The passing of the Tudors; 18. The coming of the king; 19. Festivities, 1604–5; 20. The fifth of November; 21. 'Some discover islands far away'; 22. The occurrents in England; 23. A noble gift to St John's College library; 24. A long progress; 25. Work in the house of Lords; 26. 'Virginia Britannica'; 27. The fifty-second year; 28. 'Hence these tears'; 29. The heir of all; Addenda: I. The paternal ancestors; II. The maternal ancestors; III. The second Earl and Countess of Southampton; IV. Southampton's contemporaries in St John's College, Cambridge; Note to chapter 21; Index.