The society was founded in 1906 on the initiative of Alfred W. Pollard, who stated that "every generation will need to make its own critical editions to suit its own critical taste, but that work of permanent utility can be done by placing in the hands of students at large such reproductions of the original textual authorities as may make constant and continuous reference to those originals themselves unnecessary.
[1] It was attended by Frederick S. Boas, E. K. Chambers, T. Gregory Foster, Walter Wilson Greg, Ronald B. McKerrow, and Pollard.
[2] They agreed that a need existed for the reliable transmission of early modern play texts for scholars and students.
Following the relaxation of these rules, membership became increasingly international, and local chapters have been established in the United States, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and Australia.
[1] The Society is a registered charity in the United Kingdom and its administrative base is at the University of London's Institute of English Studies.