The History of King Lear
The History of King Lear is an adaptation by Nahum Tate of William Shakespeare's "King Lear". It first appeared in 1681, some seventy-five years after Shakespeare's version, and is believed to have replaced Shakespeare's version on the English stage in whole or in part until 1838.
Leir of Britain
Leir's life was dramatised on the Elizabethan stage in an anonymous play "King Leir", which was registered in 1594 and published in 1605 under the title "The True Chronicle History of King Leir, and his three daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordella". This precursor to William Shakespeare's tragedy was a comedy, repeating Geoffrey's story and ending happily with Leir's restoration to power. The story also appears in John Higgins's "Mirror for Magistrates", Edmund Spenser's "The Faerie Queene", and other works.