In introducing a volume entitled Shakespeare and the Digital World, perhaps the first questions to address are what is encompassed in the term ‘Shakespeare’ and what is meant by ‘digital’. In working towards completing this volume the editors have been asked innumerable times two things; first, ‘why Shakespeare?’ and second, ‘the digital what?’ To deal with the first of these questions ‘Shakespeare’, for the purposes of this collection, includes the wide and varied arena of Shakespeare studies and all of its potential contributors and audiences. The scope of this collection therefore is vast, yet it is much more focused than other studies of digital humanities in that the subject focus implicates a particular group of people who self-identify as Shakespeareans. The sheer volume of material that is published online or in print that refers to Shakespeare makes it a verifiable and distinct cultural entity of considerable weight, and the size, popularity, duration and geographic spread of the debate that surrounds the author and his associated works positions it as a leader for other areas of the humanities. In yoking the ‘digital’ to ‘Shakespeare’ in this volume (with the ‘and’ that John Jowett argues ‘puts Shakespeare in relation to something that affects his work and leaves its impression on his work’ (2007: 3)) we assert the mutual importance of the ‘digital’ as a context that influences the study of Shakespeare and, conversely, the importance of Shakespeare as a case study to understand the developing nature of the digital world. In asking ‘what does Shakespeare add to a discussion of the digital world?’ the answer must be scope, form and direction. This collection is concerned to address whether Shakespeare studies is acting on or reacting to technology, whether scholarship and practice are leading or following technological innovations. Looking at this specific field across the period of digital development is designed to confront these questions.