William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was born to John Shakespeare and mother Mary Arden some time in late April 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon. He wrote about 38 plays (the precise number is uncertain), a collection of sonnets and a variety of other poems. Stanley Wells is the General Editor of the Penguin Shakespeare. He is Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham and Chairman of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. Katherine Duncan-Jones is a Fellow of Somerville College, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, and an Honorary Research Fellow of University College, London. H. J. Oliver was Professor of English at the University New South Wales. He edited The Merry Wives of Windsor and Timon of Athens for the Arden Shakespeare and The Taming of the Shrew for the Oxford Shakespeare.