Petition  Reinstate Pat Parker as Arden Editor   To whom it may concern:     We, the undersigned, protest the unjust termination of Patricia Parker as editor of the Arden Shakespeare’s planned third edition of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Professor Parker’s sterling reputation, as well as the wide acclaim her work on the edition has thus far received in both the academic and theatrical worlds, impels us to deplore the possible loss of a major new edition of Shakespeare’s play–-one that promises significantly to enrich critical discussion and theatrical performance. We are concerned as well that a personal and professional injustice has been done to Professor Parker. The circumstances of her dismissal, along with the record of problems emanating from Arden that impeded progress on the edition, cast doubt on the professionalism with which she was treated, and on the editorial transparency and accountabilty of the Arden Shakespeare in this matter. Finally, the fact that the Arden Shakespeare  has recently been purchased by a private equity company in the latest of a series of corporate publishers, raises concerns that commercial profitability may be trumping a commitment to scholarly thoroughness and diligence. We fear that the excellent repute of the Arden Shakespeare, on which generations of scholars and Shakespeare lovers have come to rely, may be tarnished by this episode.    For all of the above reasons, we the undersigned urge the publishers of the Arden Shakespeare to reinstate Patricia Parker as editor of this play, and to give her the necessary time and editorial cooperation to bring her important new edition to a successful completion.  Sincerely, The undersigned The content below was added by the petition author on August 12, 2008 at 12:57 pm and may not reflect the views or opinions of signatories prior to that date. A number of people have encountered problems with the verification code needed to sign the petition. It seems to be the case that using Internet Explorer or Firefox as your browser to view the petition increases your chances of signing successfully. It is recommended that you copy any comments (highlight comments,  click on “edit” in your browser toolbar, then click “copy” on the dropdown menu) before attempting to sign. If you cannot read the verification code, click the line that says “read code out loud.” If this doesn’t help, click the “refresh” function (usually indicated by a circular arrow or arrows in your browser) to get a new verification code and try that. This may take a couple of attempts. Finally, if this doesn’t work, close the window, reopen the petition, and use the paste function (Situate cursor in comment box, then click “edit” and “paste”) to reproduce your comments, and try again. This usually works.    If none of these methods suffice and you cannot sign, please contact Richard Halpern at r.l.halpern@att.net The content below was added by the petition author on September 15, 2008 at 8:03 pm and may not reflect the views or opinions of signatories prior to that date. Some people who have tried to sign without adding comments have run into an additional technical problem: an error message stating that improper symbols or characters have been entered into the comment box when in fact nothing has been entered into the box. This problem can be solved by typing anything into the box: a comment or even just a single period. Sign this petition! Petition Author Richard Halpern Sir William Osler Professor of English Department of English Johns Hopkins University 3400 N. Charles Street Baltimore, MD 21218 Petition Information Current Signatures: 856 Petition Views: 5307 Created: August 7, 2008 at 10:12 pm

		Current Signatures Showing Signatures 837-856 of 856 Browse all signatures 837. Balaji Chandrasekhar April 8, 2009 at 12:57 pm (No comment) 838. Morgan Redman April 8, 2009 at 7:59 pm (No comment) 839. Edgar Austodillo April 9, 2009 at 2:01 pm (No comment) 840. Keith Miller April 13, 2009 at 2:09 pm (No comment) 841. Stacey Chu April 14, 2009 at 3:23 pm (No comment) 842. Diane Sparling April 15, 2009 at 6:15 am When more than 800 people are protesting Arden's decision, and Arden is not budging, that's a clear indication that something is rotten in Denmark! 843. Jana Weldon April 15, 2009 at 12:37 pm More transparency for Arden's reasons for termination at the minimum is needed. This decision raises significant questions about the academic publishing process. 844. Mariangela Tempera April 17, 2009 at 1:09 pm (No comment) Questions answered: Title and institution: University of Ferrara - Italy 845. Bruce Golden April 21, 2009 at 2:11 pm Professor Parker is stunningly eminent in Shakespearian studies. Arden 3's reputation would be enhanced by her contribution and scholars, critics, teachers, students, and readers would benefit enormously were she allowed to complete her edition. 846. Paul Innes May 5, 2009 at 6:47 am Perhaps Arden's owners should be aware of the effect on the series' financial viability! Questions answered: Title and institution: Dr; University of Glasgow 847. Peter van Dolen May 6, 2009 at 4:48 am (No comment) 848. Davide Del Bello May 7, 2009 at 5:46 am (No comment) Questions answered: Title and institution: Professor Universita' degli Studi di Bergamo Italy 849. Karen Cronin May 8, 2009 at 7:17 am I support Dr. Parker's reinstatement. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a wonderful, classic play, and Patricia Parker has shown time and time again through her work that she is exactly the right person to revitalize this Shakespearean masterpiece. 850. Megan Shepherd May 20, 2009 at 7:25 pm This is outrageous! I can't believe I hadn't heard of this situation sooner. Dr. Parker should absolutely be allowed to finish her new edition of A Midsummer Night's Dream so that we all can enjoy. I genuinely wonder what the decision makers at Arden were thinking when they made this huge mistake. This is, unfortunately, a black mark on Arden's reputation. 851. OANA-ALIS POPESCU May 26, 2009 at 2:08 pm I am utterly dismayed at the fact that Professor Patricia Parker s work on the edition of A Midsummer Night s Dream cannot be published. We need this edition as much of the information and the insights it provides are practically inaccessible to scholars and students from a country such as Romania. Questions answered: Title and institution: PhD candidate- University of Bucharest, Romania 852. Francesca Guidotti June 3, 2009 at 6:55 pm (No comment) Questions answered: Title and institution: University of Bergamo (Italy) 853. Alessandra Marzola June 4, 2009 at 8:47 am (No comment) Questions answered: Title and institution: professor, University of Bergamo (Italy) 854. Dan Chianese June 19, 2009 at 10:45 am (No comment) 855. MIHAELA IRIMIA July 2, 2009 at 3:45 am This exceptionally professional edition is a most valuable academic tool equally for staff and students in such a country as Romania, whose Western cultural tradition has been recently reinforced by tis EU accession. Shakespeare Studies in Romanian culture do need such wonderful editions more than ever. I am sounding the voice of so many in the lines laid on this screen. And I fully believe in academic and intellectual solidarity, at a time when the most canonical of canonicals can be a rare joy Questions answered: Title and institution: Prof., Ph.D., Unviersity of Bucharest 856. Adina Ciugureanu July 2, 2009 at 6:26 am At a time when real interest in scholarly work is declining, terminating the publication of an academic work of such high acclaim is, unfortunately, its unwanted effect.So sad if nothing will be done about it. Questions answered: Title and institution: Professor, PhD., Ovidius University Constanta

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