DOCSLIB.ORG

'So Long Lives This' Exhibition Catalogue

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
'So Long Lives This' Exhibition Catalogue FIS Shakespeare_FISHER 16-01-06 1:55 PM Page 1 ‘So long lives this’: A Celebration of Shakespeare’s Life and Works, 1616-2016 FIS Shakespeare_FISHER 16-01-06 1:55 PM Page 2 FIS Shakespeare_FISHER 16-01-06 1:55 PM Page 3 ‘So long lives this’: A Celebration of Shakespeare’s Life and Works, 1616–2016 Exhibition & Catalogue by Scott Schofield Peter W.M.Blayney Alan Galey Marjorie Rubright With an introduction by Anne Dondertman THOMAS FISHER RARE BOOK LIBRARY University of Toronto 25 January–28 May FIS Shakespeare_FISHER 16-01-06 1:55 PM Page 4 Catalogue and exhibition by Peter Blayney, Alan Galey, Marjorie Rubright, and Scott Schofield General editor Scott Schofield Editors P.J. Carefoote, Anne Dondertman, and Philip Oldfield Exhibition designed and installed by Linda Joy Digital Photography by Paul Armstrong Catalogue designed by Stan Bevington Catalogue printed by Coach House Press isbn 9780772761170 (paper) isbn 9780772761187 (cloth) © 2016 University of Toronto Library library and archives canada cataloguing in publication ‘So long lives this’ : a celebration of Shakespeare’s life and works, 1616–2016 / exhibition & catalogue by Peter Blayney, Alan Galey, Marjorie Rubright, Scott Schofield ; with an introduction by Anne Dondertman. Catalogue of an exhibition held at the omas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto from January 25 to May 28, 2016. Includes bibliographical references. isbn 978-0-7727-6118-7 (hardback). isbn 978-0-7727-6117-0 (paperback) 1. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616AppreciationExhibitions. 2. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616InfluenceExhibitions. 3. Shakespeare, William, 1564–1616Anniversaries, etc. Exhibitions. I. Dondertman, Anne, 1952-, writer of introduction II. omas Fisher Rare Book Library, issuing body, host institution III.Blayney, Peter W. M. 1944-Publication of Shakespeare. IV. Schofield, Scott James Inside the premises. V. Rubright, Marjorie Shakespeare’s tongues. VI. Galey, Alan, 1975- Mediation and imagination. PR2931.S64 2016 822.3'3 C2015-908137-8 [Here is the text for the verso of the title page of the trade edition:] e publication of this large format exhibition catalogue, with an extended print run, has been made possible through the generous support of Mark Andrews, and his company, Andrews Infrastructure. FIS Shakespeare_FISHER 16-01-06 1:55 PM Page 5 Table of Contents Table of Contents General Introduction and the Story of the Fısher Fırst Folio by Anne DondertmanGeneral Introduction and the Story of the Fısher Fırst 7 Folio by Anne Dondertman 7 chapter one e Publication of Shakespeare chapter one by Peter W. M. Blayneye Publication of Shakespeare by Peter Blayney 17 17 chapter two chapter two Inside the Premises: William JaggardInside andthe thePremises: Intricacies William Jaggard and the Intricacies of Printing in Early Seventeenth-Centuryof Printing in England Early Seventeenth-Century England by by Scott Schofield Scott Schofield 27 27 chapter three chapter three At Work: Imagining Shakespeare’sAt Work: Textual Imagining Engagements Shakespeare’s Textual Engagements by Scott Schofield by Scott Schofield 35 35 chapter Four chapter Four Shakespeare’s Tongues: Henry VShakespeare’sand the Babel Tongues: of English Henry V and the Babel of English by Marjorie Rubright by Marjorie Rubright 45 45 chapter Fıve chapter Fıve Shakespeare’s GlobalShakespeare’s Imagination: Global Imagination: e Stranger ‘of here and e Stranger ‘of here and everywhere,’everywhere,’ Othello, eOthello, Moor e of MoorVenice of Venice by Marjorie Rubright by Marjorie Rubright 56 55 chapter six chapter Mediationsix and Imagination: Shakespeare and the Book Mediation and Imagination:since the Nineteenth Century by Alan Galey 67 Shakespeare and the Book since the Nineteenth Century by Alan Galey Endnotes 65 81 Endnotes List of Books included in the exhibition 81 87 List of Books included in the exhibition Picture credits 87 89 Picture credits Author Biographies 89 90 Author Biographies Table of Jaggard imprints 90 91 Table of Jaggard imprints 91 FIS Shakespeare_FISHER16-01-061:55PMPage6 View of London, showing the Globe theatre (number 36), just to the left of Southwark Cathedral. FIS Shakespeare_FISHER 16-01-06 1:55 PM Page 7 General Introduction 28 May 2016. e story of how the Shakespeare collection came to Toronto will be told later in this introduction. and Although Shakespeare himself had no involvement in the e Story of the Fısher Fırst Folio publication of his collected plays, it has served him well. If the 1623 folio had not been published, about half of his plays would be unknown today, including Macbeth, Julius Caesar, e years between 2014 and 2016 have been busy ones for the As You like It, Twelfth Night, and e Tempest. Shakespeare Shakespeare industry as the 450th anniversary of Shake- was an actor as well as a playwright and he wrote his plays to speare’s birth, and this year the four hundredth anniversary be performed. His name heads the list of actors that appears of his death, inspire yet more books, exhibitions, and public as one of the preliminary pages in the Fırst Folio. and scholarly interest in one of the greatest writers in the Yet it is the plays in their written form that have largely English language. Perhaps the grandest of these projects is shaped our understanding of Shakespeare the man, and the entitled simply ‘Fırst Folio!’ and is a tour organized by the writer. It is Shakespeare’s texts, from the monu mentally Folger Shakespeare Library which will see copies of its Fırst important Fırst Folio of 1623 and the other three seven- Folios on display in museums, universities, public libraries, teenth-century folios, to the hundreds of editions over the and historical societies in all fifty states. e Folger Library next four centuries that have been our chief means of engag- holds more than a third of the 233 known copies of the Fırst ing with Shakespeare, not only in the English-speaking Folio – the first collected edition of Shakespeare’s plays pub- world, but around the globe. lished in 1623, seven years after his death. e Folger’s Folios e Fısher Library’s exhibition and catalogue, ‘So Long are not travelling to Canada but we are fortunate at the Lives is’: A Celebration of Shakespeare’s Life and Work, 1616– omas Fısher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto to 2016, explores that rich history through contributions by have the only copy of the Fırst Folio in the country.1 It, as four scholars who have generously given of their time and well as the Second (1632), ird (1664), and Fourth (1685) expertise. e catalogue begins with a chapter by Peter Folios along with many other key items in the Fısher collec- Blayney, freeman of the Stationers’ Company, and authority tions, will be on public display from 25 January through on the early London book trade. Blayney outlines the his- tory of the publication of the Fırst Folio and traces its progress through the printing house of William Jaggard. is is followed by a chapter by Scott Schofield, general edi- tor of the catalogue. Schofield is a book historian and scholar of Renaissance literature with particular expertise in the his- tory of reading. In his first chapter he further elaborates on the Jaggards and provides additional context on early seven- teenth-century printing. Schofield’s second chapter imag- ines the working life of Shakespeare the writer and reader through an examination of his sources and the print culture in which he lived and operated. Marjorie Rubright is a fem- inist scholar of Renaissance literature with particular expert- ise in early modern lexical culture as well as the period’s con- structions of race and ethnicity. Her chapters open onto the broader context of global trends and influences evident in Shakespeare’s plays through readings of Henry V and Othello. Rubright’s first chapter considers Henry V as part of a wide- spread cultural conversation about the defining limits of the English language, while her second chapter explores the boundlessness of Shakespeare’s global imagination by track- ing the ‘stranger of here and everywhere’ in Othello, on maps and atlases, and in costume− and emblem-books of the period. Alan Galey, whose research and teaching focuses on the history and future of books, concludes in the final chap- ter by examining Shakespeare and the book since the nine- teenth century, illustrating the ways in which Shakespeare continues to be reimagined in response to a changing world and our evolving understanding of Shakespeare as writer and iconic figure. e exhibition thus draws on a great diver- sity of material ranging across four centuries, highlighting the wonderful richness of the Fısher holdings. 7 FIS Shakespeare_FISHER 16-01-06 1:55 PM Page 8 8 Anne Dondertman Toronto in 1929, and had gone on to found a profitable elec- tronics firm, Radio Engineering Products. Sidney Fısher was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University in 1969. e connection to Toronto was also through their great-grandfather, omas Fısher, an early settler who came from Yorkshire in 1821 and established the first grist and saw mills on the Humber River.3 It was in recognition of the Fısher brothers’ remarkable gift that the new Library was named the omas Fısher Rare Book Library. e acquisi- tion immediately put Toronto in the front ranks of rare book libraries in Canada. e Fısher Library is still the only insti- tution in the country to own a Fırst Folio, and the rich and wide-ranging Shakespeare collection in which it is embed- ded remains one of our great strengths. e Shakespeare portion of the donation consisted of Sidney (left) and Charles Fısher with Marion Brown, the head of books that Shakespeare would have used as sources, the four the department of rare books and special collections at the seventeenth-century folio editions, the later eighteenth and official opening of the omas Fısher Rare Book Library in 1973 nineteenth-century editions, as well as works describing England and London in Shakespeare’s day.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Proem Shakespeare S 'Plaies and Poems"
    Proem Shakespeare s 'Plaies and Poems" In 1640, the publisher John Benson presents to his English reading public a Shakespeare who is now largely lost to us: the national author of poems and plays. By printing his modest octavo edition of the Poems: Written By Wil. Shake-speare. Gent., Benson curiously aims to complement the 1623 printing venture of Shakespeare's theatre colleagues, John Heminge and Henry Condell , who had presented Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies in their monumental First Folio. Thus, in his own Dedicatory Epistle "To the Reader," Benson remarks that he presents "some excellent and sweetly composed Poems," which "had nor the fortune by reason of their lnfancie in his death, to have the due accommodation of proportionable glory, with the rest of his everliving Workes" (*2r). Indeed, as recent scholarship demonstrates, Benson boldly prints his octavo Poems on the model ofHeminge and Condell 's Folio Plays. ' Nor simply does Benson's volume share its primer, Thomas Cores, wirh rhe 1632 Folio, bur both editions begin with an identical format: an engraved portrait of the author; a dedicatory epistle "To the Reader"; and a set of commendatory verses, with Leonard Digges contributing an impor­ tant celebratory poem to both volumes. Benson's engraving by William Marshall even derives from the famous Martin Droeshout engraving in the First Folio, and six of the eight lines beneath Benson's engraving are borrowed from Ben Jonson's famed memorial poem to Shakespeare in char volume. Accordingly, Benson rakes his publishing goal from Heminge and Conde!!. They aim to "keepe the memory of such worthy a Friend, & Fellow alive" (Dedicatory Epistle to the earls ofPembroke and Montgomery, reprinted in Riverside, 94), while he aims "to be serviceable for the con­ tinuance of glory to the deserved Author" ("To the Reader," *2v).
    [Show full text]
  • Stereoscope and View Offer
    M - jN-- - lfr S- - M -- SHE NATlUJSAi IKIBUJXIS WASHINGTON D a THURSDAY JANUARY 31 1907 force of setting a nail and pounding it New Mexico Speaker Cannon and Sen- ¬ satisfied with him Mr Shonts retained NEW BLOOD IN SENATE gently day by day year by year till he THE ISTHMIAN CANAL ¬ ME got ators Frye Halefrnd Blackburn were his Presidency of the Clover Leaf Rail How the Deaf it in to the head Curtis is not a members of tW House when he was road which the President did not alto ¬ full blooded Indian as has been said He declined a third election to Con ¬ gether approve Furthermore Mr but is thi son of the late Capt Curtis gress from New Mexico He was a Chief Shontss idea of digging the canal seem ¬ Are -- Engineer Sfaontss Resignation Wel Made That August Body Undergoing Some Striking Changes Result a veteran of the war of the rebellion member tlR Republican ed Washington to Hear an Indian of National to be a life of ease in and mother His mothers Committee for 121 years from 1875 to comedHe was Not Wholly Satisfac- ¬ for the Commission Chairman with cf the Elections So Far 1S87 and he conducted the Blaine cam- ¬ plenty of society for his wife and yuSSer from defective hearing paign In 1884 tory to the President and Secretary write to GEO P WAY of Detroit who Tiln 192 he was made daughters Mrs Shonts and the two lor twenty flve years was so deaf Secretary of Wan by President Harri- ¬ Misses Shonts from Europe a no was Dractlrtiiv it t that Taft Fnjineer Stevens More Accept ¬ returned son serving In thaiCabinet to the close few months ago
    [Show full text]
  • Shakespeare in Geneva
    Shakespeare in Geneva SHAKESPEARE IN GENEVA Early Modern English Books (1475-1700) at the Martin Bodmer Foundation Lukas Erne & Devani Singh isbn 978-2-916120-90-4 Dépôt légal, 1re édition : janvier 2018 Les Éditions d’Ithaque © 2018 the bodmer Lab/université de Genève Faculté des lettres - rue De-Candolle 5 - 1211 Genève 4 bodmerlab.unige.ch TABLE OF CONTENts Acknowledgements 7 List of Abbreviations 8 List of Illustrations 9 Preface 11 INTRODUctION 15 1. The Martin Bodmer Foundation: History and Scope of Its Collection 17 2. The Bodmer Collection of Early Modern English Books (1475-1700): A List 31 3. The History of Bodmer’s Shakespeare(s) 43 The Early Shakespeare Collection 43 The Acquisition of the Rosenbach Collection (1951-52) 46 Bodmer on Shakespeare 51 The Kraus Sales (1970-71) and Beyond 57 4. The Makeup of the Shakespeare Collection 61 The Folios 62 The First Folio (1623) 62 The Second Folio (1632) 68 The Third Folio (1663/4) 69 The Fourth Folio (1685) 71 The Quarto Playbooks 72 An Overview 72 Copies of Substantive and Partly Substantive Editions 76 Copies of Reprint Editions 95 Other Books: Shakespeare and His Contemporaries 102 The Poetry Books 102 Pseudo-Shakespeare 105 Restoration Quarto Editions of Shakespeare’s Plays 106 Restoration Adaptations of Plays by Shakespeare 110 Shakespeare’s Contemporaries 111 5. Other Early Modern English Books 117 NOTE ON THE CATALOGUE 129 THE CATALOGUE 135 APPENDIX BOOKS AND MANUscRIPts NOT INCLUDED IN THE CATALOGUE 275 Works Cited 283 Acknowledgements We have received precious help in the course of our labours, and it is a pleasure to acknowl- edge it.
    [Show full text]
  • Three Eras, Two Men, One Value: Fides in Modern Performances of Shakespeare’S
    Three Eras, Two Men, One Value: Fides in Modern Performances of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra Depictions of Marc Antony and Caesar Augustus have changed dramatically between the first and twenty-first centuries, partially because of William Shakespeare’s seventeenth-century play Antony and Cleopatra. In 2006 and 2010, England’s Royal Shakespeare Company staged vastly different interpretations of this classically influenced Shakespearean text. How do the modern performances rework ancient views of Antony and Augustus, particularly in light of the ancient Roman value fides (loyalty or good faith)? This paper answers that question by examining the intersections between Greco-Roman literary-historic narratives – as received in Shakespeare’s early modern play – and the two modern performances. The contemporary versions of Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra create contrasting constructions of Antony and Augustus by modernizing the characters and/or their worlds. The 2006 rendition (directed by Gregory Doran) presents an explosive but weak-willed Antony (Sir Patrick Stewart) and a prudish yet petulant Augustus (John Hopkins). On the other hand, the 2010 adaptation (directed by Michael Boyd) shows a hotheaded and frank Antony (Darrell D’Silva) who struggles against a cold and manipulative Augustus (John Mackay). Both performances reveal the complexity of these ancient figures as the men engage with and evaluate claims upon their familial, societal, and personal fides. Representations of Antony and Augustus necessarily involve fides, though classical accounts do not always feature this term. As military and political leaders, both men led lives filled with decisions about loyalty, specifically what deserved it and in what degree. The modern dramatizations further underscore fides in their portrayals of Antony and Augustus.
    [Show full text]
  • Study Guide 2016-2017
    Study Guide 2016-2017 by William Shakespeare Standards Theatre English Language Arts Social Studies TH.68.C.2.4: Defend personal responses. LAFS.68.RH.1.2: Determine central ideas. SS.912.H.1.5: Examine social issues. TH.68.C.3.1: Discuss design elements. LAFS.910.L.3.4: Determine unknown words. TH.68.H.1.5: Describe personal responses. LAFS.910.L.3.5: Demonstrate figurative language. TH.912.S.1.8: Use research to extract clues. LAFS.1112.SL.1.1: Initiate collaborative discussions. TH.912.S.2.9: Research artistic choices. TH.912.H.1.4: Interpret through historical lenses. Content Advisory: Antony and Cleopatra is a political drama fueled by intimate relationships. There are battle scenes. If it were a movie, Antony and Cleopatra would be rated “PG-13.” !1 Antony and Cleopatra Table of Contents Introduction p. 3 Enjoying Live Theater p. 3 About the Play p. 6 Plot Summary p. 6 Meet the Characters p. 7 Meet the Playwright p. 8 Historical Context p. 11 Elizabethan Theater p. 11 Activities p. 12 Themes and Discussion p. 17 Bibliography p. 17 !2 Antony and Cleopatra An Introduction Educators: Thank you for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to bring the joy of theatre arts to your classroom. We at Orlando Shakes are well aware of the demands on your time and it is our goal to offer you supplemental information to compliment your curriculum with ease and expediency. What’s New? Lots! First, let me take a moment to introduce our new Children’s Series Coordinator, Brandon Yagel.
    [Show full text]
  • Anatomy of Criticism, Four Essays
    ANATOMY OF CRITICISM Four Essays Anatomy or Criticism FOUR ESSAYS ty NORTHROP FRYE PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS Copyright 1957, by Princeton University Press All Rights Reserved L.C. Card No. 56-8380 ISBN 0-691-01298-9 (paperback edn.) ISBN 0-691-06004-5 (hardcover edn.) Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Council of the Humanities, Princeton University, and the Class of 1932 Lectureship. First PRINCETON PAPERBACK Edition, 1971 Third printing, 1973 Tli is book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise disposed of without the pub lisher's consent, in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published. Printed in the United States of America by Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey HELENAE UXORI PREFATORY STATEMENTS AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS THIS book forced itself on me while I was trying to write some thing else, and it probably still bears the marks of the reluctance with which a great part of it was composed. After completing a of William Blake study (Fearful Symmetry, 1947), I determined to the of apply principles literary symbolism and Biblical typology which I had learned from Blake to another poet, preferably one who had taken these principles from the critical theories of his own day, instead of working them out by himself as Blake did. I therefore a began study of Spenser's Faerie Queene, only to dis cover that in my beginning was my end. The introduction to an Spenser became introduction to the theory of allegory, and that theory obstinately adhered to a much larger theoretical structure.
    [Show full text]
  • Mining Wars: Corporate Expansion and Labor Violence in the Western Desert, 1876-1920
    UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones 2009 Mining wars: Corporate expansion and labor violence in the Western desert, 1876-1920 Kenneth Dale Underwood University of Nevada Las Vegas Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalscholarship.unlv.edu/thesesdissertations Part of the Latin American History Commons, Social History Commons, and the United States History Commons Repository Citation Underwood, Kenneth Dale, "Mining wars: Corporate expansion and labor violence in the Western desert, 1876-1920" (2009). UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones. 106. http://dx.doi.org/10.34917/1377091 This Dissertation is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Scholarship@UNLV with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this Dissertation in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/or on the work itself. This Dissertation has been accepted for inclusion in UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones by an authorized administrator of Digital Scholarship@UNLV. For more information, please contact [email protected]. MINING WARS: CORPORATE EXPANSION AND LABOR VIOLENCE IN THE WESTERN DESERT, 1876-1920 by Kenneth Dale Underwood Bachelor of Arts University of Southern California 1992 Master
    [Show full text]
  • Shame and Betrayal in Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra
    Kawasaki Journal of Medical Welfare Vol. 26, No. 1, 2020 41-48 Original Paper Shame and Betrayal in Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra Michael KREMENIK＊1 (Accepted July 17, 2020) Key words: betrayal, suicide, negotiation, shame Abstract The aim of this paper is to look at how William Shakespeare took the historical information available to him in the story of Mark Antony, Triumvir of Rome, and Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, and turned it into his tragic play Antony and Cleopatra. Four parts of the play are analyzed: The Battle of Actium, negotiations with Caesar Octavian, the Alexandrian War and Cleopatra’s Suicide. Did Antony know beforehand that Cleopatra and her navy would abandon the Battle of Actium and return to Egypt? In the aftermath of Actium both Cleopatra and Antony negotiated separately with Octavian. What is known about Cleopatra’s willingness to give up on Antony and defect to Octavian’s side? Was Antony really so surprised to see Cleopatra’s navy defect to Octavian? Or was he blindsided and right to feel betrayed by Cleopatra? And why did Cleopatra have a messenger inform Antony that she was dead? Was she afraid of Antony after her navy’s defection? Was she looking for sympathy? Trying to curtail his anger? Or was she hoping that Antony would kill himself and thus give her free reign to negotiate with Octavian as Queen of Egypt and not as Antony’s mistress? All of these questions will be looked at from the point of view of Shakespeare’s tragedy and how he manipulated the historical sources to write his own version of this world famous tragic love story.
    [Show full text]
  • |||GET||| King Henry IV Part 2 Third Series 3Rd Edition
    KING HENRY IV PART 2 THIRD SERIES 3RD EDITION DOWNLOAD FREE William Shakespeare | 9781904271376 | | | | | King Henry IV Part 2: Third Series See more. King Henry IV Part 2 Third Series 3rd edition landmark new edition by textual expert and General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare, Richard Proudfoot, offers a full account of the play's text and Namespaces Article Talk. Please keep the receipt. Namespaces Article Talk. James C. Each edition features facing-page notes, short definitions of words, guidance on metre and punctuation, large font for easy reading, and plenty of blank space to write notes. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare's most performed King Henry IV Part 2 Third Series 3rd edition studied tragedies. One unusual aspect of this series was its edition of Hamletwhich presents the play in two separate volumes. This major new Arden edition offers students detailed on-page commentary notes highlighting meaning and theatrical ideas and themes, as well as an illustrated, lengthy introduction setting the play in its Stock photo. It presents fully edited modern-spelling editions of the plays and poems, with lengthy introductions and King Henry IV Part 2 Third Series 3rd edition commentaries. Bulman is Henry B. Cymbeline: Third Series. Hardcover William Shakespeare Collectibles. The Passionate Pilgrim To the Queen. Its first publication was Edward Dowden 's edition of Hamletpublished in The play was published in quarto the same year printing by Valentine Simmes. Thank you for shopping at our store. We ship within Three business days of payment, usually sooner. Loved Henry the IV's speech about sleep, or the lack thereof.
    [Show full text]
  • Edward De Vere and the Two Shrew Plays
    The Playwright’s Progress: Edward de Vere and the Two Shrew Plays Ramon Jiménez or more than 400 years the two Shrew plays—The Tayminge of a Shrowe (1594) and The Taming of the Shrew (1623)—have been entangled with each other in scholarly disagreements about who wrote them, which was F written first, and how they relate to each other. Even today, there is consensus on only one of these questions—that it was Shakespeare alone who wrote The Shrew that appeared in the Folio . It is, as J. Dover Wilson wrote, “one of the most diffi- cult cruxes in the Shakespearian canon” (vii). An objective review of the evidence, however, supplies a solution to the puz- zle. It confirms that the two plays were written in the order in which they appear in the record, The Shrew being a major revision of the earlier play, A Shrew . They were by the same author—Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford, whose poetry and plays appeared under the pseudonym “William Shakespeare” during the last decade of his life. Events in Oxford’s sixteenth year and his travels in the 1570s support composition dates before 1580 for both plays. These conclusions also reveal a unique and hitherto unremarked example of the playwright’s progress and development from a teenager learning to write for the stage to a journeyman dramatist in his twenties. De Vere’s exposure to the in- tricacies and language of the law, and his extended tour of France and Italy, as well as his maturation as a poet, caused him to rewrite his earlier effort and pro- duce a comedy that continues to entertain centuries later.
    [Show full text]
  • "A Sharers' Repertory." Rethinking Theatrical
    Syme, Holger Schott. "A Sharers’ Repertory." Rethinking Theatrical Documents in Shakespeare’s England. Ed. Tiffany Stern. London: The Arden Shakespeare, 2020. 33–51. Bloomsbury Collections. Web. 26 Sep. 2021. <http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781350051379.ch-002>. Downloaded from Bloomsbury Collections, www.bloomsburycollections.com, 26 September 2021, 08:28 UTC. Copyright © Tiffany Stern and contributors 2020. You may share this work for non-commercial purposes only, provided you give attribution to the copyright holder and the publisher, and provide a link to the Creative Commons licence. 2 A Sharers’ Repertory Holger Schott Syme Without Philip Henslowe, we would know next to nothing about the kinds of repertories early modern London’s resident theatre companies offered to their audiences. As things stand, thanks to the existence of the manuscript commonly known as Henslowe’s Diary , scholars have been able to contemplate the long lists of receipts and expenses that record the titles of well over 200 plays, most of them now lost. The Diary gives us some sense of the richness and diversity of this repertory, of the rapid turnover of plays, and of the kinds of investments theatre companies made to mount new shows. It also names a plethora of actors and other professionals associated with the troupes at the Rose. But, because the records are a fi nancier’s and theatre owner’s, not those of a sharer in an acting company, they do not document how a group of actors decided which plays to stage, how they chose to alternate successful shows, or what they, as actors, were looking for in new commissions.
    [Show full text]
  • 'The New (Old) Play': Q1 Hamlet and the Texts Around
    ‘THE NEW (OLD) PLAY’: Q1 HAMLET AND THE TEXTS AROUND PERFORMANCE, 1980-2015 Scott Shepherd Royal Holloway, University of London PhD Thesis TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION OF ACADEMIC INTEGRITY ................................................................4 ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................5 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ....................................................................................................7 A NOTE ON TEXTS AND ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................9 CHAPTER ONE WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT HAMLET ................................11 Approaching the Archive .............................................................................................16 The First Quarto from 1825 to 1980: A Pre-History ....................................................23 The Origins of Q1: A Survey of Scholarship .................................................................35 Summary of the Argument and Outline of the Thesis ....................................................44 CHAPTER TWO: 1980-1989 THE MOST VALUABLE OF ALL SCHOLARLY ACTIVITIES ....................................50 RSC 1980: Reviewing Authenticity ...............................................................................58 Orange Tree 1985: Absolute Fidelity? .........................................................................66 RSC 1989: Common Sense, I Suppose ..........................................................................72
    [Show full text]