Henry VI

Sir, --

Graham Hall (Letters, September 17) suggests that when Andrew Hadfield wrongly commented that "their [the Henry VI texts'] first identification with Shakespeare dates only from 1623", he was simply repeating an error in the book he was reviewing, Michael Taylor's edition of Part One for the Oxford Shakespeare. Hadfield did not attribute the comment to Taylor, distance himself from it by quotation marks, or give any sign that he realized it was untrue. Unlike a problem, an error shared is not an error halved. If Hadfield knew it was an error, then not saying so was a fault in itself.

Gabriel Egan, Dept of English and Drama, Loughborough University