Does the sentence "In the English language, the works of Shakespeare have been a particularly fertile ground for textual criticismboth because the texts, as transmitted, contain a considerable amount of variation, and because the effort and expense of producing superior editions of his works have always been widely viewed as worthwhile." answer the question "Over approximately what expanse of time can textual criticism be applied to written works?"

Available choices:
a). yes.
b). no.
b).