Shakespeare and Medicine: Friar Lawrence (11 January)

In the first of a series about Shakespeare and medicine, Rebekah Owens focuses on the character of Friar Lawrence from ‘Romeo and Juliet’. In Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, when we first meet Friar Lawrence, he is outdoors, carrying an ‘osier’ – a basket – and picking flowers and herbs for his medical practice. He describes his early-morning task of picking ‘baleful weeds and precious-juicèd flowers.’

Find out more about Shakespeare and Medicine

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The Secretaries of the SBT (23 January)

In 1853 the first Secretary of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was appointed. This role became known as Director and is now Chief Executive. On 23 April 1853 the Minutes of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust recorded the following:

“That Mr. John S. Leaver be appd Sect.”

Find out more about the Secretaries of the SBT

Dante Gabriel Rossetti (1828 – 1882) Poet, illustrator, painter (31 January)

Dante Gabriel Rossetti first visited the Birthplace on the 12th July 1853. Rossetti was born on 12 May 1828 at 38 Charlotte Street, Portland Place, London, the second child of Gabriele Rossetti, a political refugee from Abruzzi, Italy and Frances Polidori Rossetti, a governess whose father Gaetono Polidori, from Tuscany, had married an English woman. Along with fellow artists William Holman Hunt and John Everett Millais, Rossetti founded the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood in 1848.

Find out more about Dante Gabriel Rossetti

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: January 2018 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

Shakespeare in Romanian (1 December)

Malina Palamariu compares two Romanian translations of Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ speech held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Library. To mark Roumania’s independence day, today’s blog comes from high school student Malina Palamariu. Her parents moved from Roumania to Italy when she was very young and Malina was lucky to grow up bilingually.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Romanian

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Shakespeare in Russian, part three: Shakespeare after Red October (4 December)

In our third blog on Russian translations of Shakespeare, Kelsey Ridge sheds light on the fate of Shakespeare’s works in post-revolutionary Russia. The Russian Revolution is sometimes referred to as the October Uprising or Red October, as according to the Julian calendar Bolsheviks took St. Petersburg on October 25, 1917.  Using the Gregorian calendar brought in by the Bolsheviks – sometimes referred to as the New Style – the date was November 7, 1917.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Russian

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Translating Shakespeare today: EU-project CultureShake gets students to bring Shakespeare’s words closer to home (11 December)

Lisa Peter, Project Manager of CultureShakespeare at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, tells us about a multilingual learning project that involves translations from the Trust’s library. In early autumn a group of Swedish and German secondary school students raided the Trust’s collection of translations to support a multilingual learning project that combines Shakespeare’s world of drama with essential translation work. CultureShake, as the project is titled, wants to raise awareness of the multilingual world most people in Europe inhabit and aims to increase the inclusion of students from multicultural backgrounds into mainstream classrooms.

Find out more about Translating Shakespeare today

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Shakespeare in Esperanto (15 December)

10 out of the 21 Esperanto translations in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s library collection were ‘Presented by the British Esperanto Association on 14^th January 1956’, according to the inscriptions written inside. These volumes were printed from 1906 to 1948, and chronicle not only the history of British Esperantists, but also show the role Shakespeare has played in the development of the Esperanto language throughout the twentieth century.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Esperanto

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Thomas Kershaw 1819 – 1898 (20 December)

Leading wood grainer and marbler, Thomas Kershaw visited Shakespeare’s Birthplace on 5 October 1859. He was born in Standish, Lancashire in 1819 to a farmer, George Kershaw, and his wife Mary (nee Critchley). At the age of 12 years his father paid £23 per annum for his nine year apprenticeship to local painter and decorator Mr. John Platt of Bolton, Lancashire. In return his employer undertook to teach him his trade and to keep him in food and clothing. During this period he bought his first set of graining tools with money earned from painting pictures and developed his skills in the art of wood graining.

Find out more about Thomas Kershaw

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Christmas Overindulgence (28 December)

Find out what writer Gervase Markham recommended for those who overindulged in the 1600s! The collection of books at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the life and times of not just William Shakespeare, but of his family and friends too. Some items in this collection are what we might now recognise as ‘lifestyle guides’, offering advice and practical tips on day to day living in Elizabethan and Jacobean England. Such works have their uses even now.

Find out more about Christmas Overindulgence

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: December 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

Shakespeare in Thai (1 November)

In this video, Kanlaya Coulsting chose to read Portia’s “The quality of mercy” speech in Thai, translated by King Rama VI. In her blog she explains what drew her to that particular passage from The Merchant of Venice. I chose to read this extract because I think it reflects the kindness of King Rama VI as an incident in Thai history demonstrates.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Thai

The Stratford Gunpowder Plot (5 November)

The tale of how Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes and their Catholic accomplices attempted to assassinate James I on the 5^th November 1605 has fallen into legend. This tale of gunpowder, treason and plots has been incorporated into the British calendar – where on one day a year fireworks are released, bonfires are lit and effigies of the unlucky conspirators burnt. But thirty eight years later, another assassination attempt (with a rather more successful gunpowder explosion) shook Stratford-upon-Avon.

Find out more about the Stratford Gunpowder Plot

Shakespeare in Russian: Konstantin Konstantinovich’s Hamlet (07 November)

Kelsey Ridge, PhD student at the Shakespeare Institute and library volunteer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, investigates the custodial history of a Russian Hamlet translation held in the Trust’s library collection. One of Russia’s most important translators of Shakespeare was the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, grandson of Czar Nicholas I, who styled himself as KR. KR, himself a poet, also undertook the translation of Schiller and Goethe, in addition to serving as President of the Russian Academy of Science and one of the founders of the Institute of Russian Literature (Pushkinskij Dom).

Find out more about Shakespeare in Russian

100 Years since the Charge at Huj (8 November)

Amongst the collections at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is ‘The Charge at Huj’. The charge occurred on the 8th November 1917 – 100 years ago today. Amongst the collections at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust is ‘The Charge at Huj’, a print of the renowned painting by Lady Elizabeth Butler. The charge occurred on the 8^th November 1917, explaining why this blog is issued today. However, why is this depiction of events in Palestine included in the Trust collection? The print was presented to the Trust in 2006 by Derrick Smart, in recognition of three years’ happy association with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s collections.

Find out more about 100 Years since the Charge at Huj

Shakespeare in Yoruba (24 November)

Today’s filmed reading is by Nigerian poet, translator and performing artist Adeyinka Akinwande. In this video Adeyinka reads his own translation of Hamlet’s ‘to be or not to be’ speech in Yoruba. Yoruba is one of the four official languages of Nigeria along with English, Hausa and Igbo. It is spoken by 28 million people in Nigeria and Benin, as well as in the Americas, Europe and other parts of Africa.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Yoruba

Shakespeare in Russian, part two: pre-revolutionary Shakespeares (29 November)

2017 marks the centenary of the Russian Revolution. Kelsey Ridge tells us about the Trust’s pre-revolutionary Russian editions of Shakespeare’s works and their translators. Shakespeare enjoyed a place of prominence in 19^th-century Russian culture and underwent multiple translations, though Shakespeare’s complete works were not translated by a single author until 1841.  The Shakespeare Birthplace possesses multiple pre-Revolutionary Russian translations of the complete works: Nikolai Khristoforovich Ketcher’s of 1862, Nikolai Vasilyevich Gerbel’s of 1880, Alexander Lukivich Sokolovsky’s of 1894, and Semen Afanasyevich Vengerov’s of 1902.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Russian, part two

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: November 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

Black History Month – Ira Aldridge (1807-1867) (1 October)

As many honour Ira Aldridge this year (the 150th Anniversary of his death) for the 30^th Black History Month he is our focus for a series of blog posts. We have explored our collections to find the materials we hold relating to this great man who achieved so much at such a challenging time in the nineteenth century. Ira Aldridge is a fascinating character and it is particularly exciting that he performed in Stratford, spending eight days in the town, he visited Shakespeare’s Birthplace twice and performed in seven plays at the Royal Shakespearean Theatre on Chapel Lane. The evidence we have of his time in Stratford shows some of the interesting parts of his character.

Find out more about Black History Month: Ira Aldridge 

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Shakespeare in German (3 October)

To mark the occasion of the German Day of Unity, librarian Mareike Doleschal examines the custodial history of a set of German Shakespeare translations held in the Trust’s library. Books can have a history that is hinted at in bookplates and marginalia or in the attempt to erase the traces of previous owners.  A few years ago when we received a donation of twelve volumes of Shakespeare plays translated into German by August Wilhelm Schlegel and Ludwig Tieck, I knew nothing about the history of these volumes and would have never imagined that they have such a fascinating provenance.

Find out more about Shakespeare in German

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The African Roscius (9 October)

Ira Aldridge first performed in London as Othello at the Royalty Theatre in 1825. He was only 17, an incredibly young age to be taking on the role. In 1825 The Public Ledger carried this announcement: Royalty Theatre “This evening, the 11^th Instant, will be performed the Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice. Othello, Mr. Keene, a Gentleman of Colour, from the New York Theatre; Desdemona, Mrs. Clifford.” Mr. Keene was Ira Aldridge’s stage name at this time.

Find out more about The African Roscius

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‘Mislike Me Not For My Complexion’ (16 October)

Ira Aldridge broke boundaries by playing “white” Shakespearean roles as well as turning a particularly villainous Shakespeare character into a hero. Ira Aldridge seemed rather savvy in the management of his career and nothing was out of bounds to him. In 1828 he had been performing in Birmingham and Coventry when a new opportunity presented itself. Aldridge had been winning the respect of the Coventry audiences and receiving rave reviews from the local newspapers.

Find out more about ‘Mislike me not for my complexion…’

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1851: Ira Aldridge Comes to Stratford (19 October)

In 1851 Ira Aldridge played at the Royal Shakespearean Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon for eight days. During that time he visited Shakespeare’s Birthplace twice and appeared in seven plays. In 1851 Ira Aldridge was an established name and had been touring the UK for some time. It was at this point that he came to perform at the Royal Shakespearean Theatre on Chapel Lane in Stratford-upon-Avon and became the first black actor to play Othello in Stratford (the next would be Paul Robeson in 1959). In the collection we have playbills from his short run at the theatre as well as two entries in the visitor book for Shakespeare’s Birthplace.

Find out more about 1851: Ira Aldridge Comes to Stratford

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Chevalier Ira Aldridge (24 October)

Ira Aldridge found his greatest success when he toured Europe and was showered with honours before ending his days in the Polish city of Łódź. In 1852 Ira Aldridge sailed for Europe, accepting invitations to appear in Germany, Prussia, Switzerland and Russia. When he started touring the continent the public wanted to see him play classic roles from Shakespeare that they knew from translation. By this point as a Shakespearean actor Aldridge was specialising in four tragic roles: Othello, Shylock, Macbeth and Richard III. His success on the continent started in Germany where Shakespeare was already very popular, possibly more so than in England at that time. Ira’s performances there further entrenched the popularity of the famous characters.

Find out more about Chevalier Ira Aldridge

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Shakespeare in Greek (28 October)

Former library volunteer Georgios Doukas investigates the provenance of a Greek translation held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Library. Dimitrios Vikelas‘s Greek translation constitutes an important episode in the history of modern Greek literature. Published in Athens in 1876 under the title Tragodiai Saikspeirou(‘Shakespeare’s Tragedies’), Vikelas’s translation was not the first Greek translations of Shakespeare’s works. However, his translation proved to be very popular and influential, bringing Shakespeare to a new readership in Greece and affecting the development of Greek theatre in the 1880s and the poetic style in Greek literature.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Greek

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The Legacy of Ira Aldridge (30 October)

Ira Aldridge achieved great success during his lifetime, he was largely forgotten after his death but in recent years his popularity has been building once more and his story has been a source of inspiration to generations. The immediate legacy of Ira Aldridge was his children. His younger daughter, Amanda, became an opera singer, composer and teacher and worked with Paul Robeson on his voice and diction. In this way Aldridge’s mantle was directly passed on to the new acting generation, Robeson used what he learned with Amanda to take him into his first performances of Othello in 1930 and became renowned for his deep voice.

Find out more about the Legacy of Ira Aldridge

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: October 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

Sharing Shakespeare Souvenirs: The Postcards (1 September)

Postcards have long provided affordable souvenirs and offer a fascinating record of change and continuity in the Shakespeare houses.  At Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, the ‘Hathaway’ bedstead and courting settle – part of the furniture passed down the generations with the Cottage – have been central to how visitors have imagined the domestic world of Anne Hathaway and William Shakespeare.

Find out more about Sharing Shakespeare Souvenirs

Heritage Open Days – Florio’s Second Frutes (4 September)

Florio’s Second Frutes takes the form of a parallel-text dialogue book encouraging people to learn from real life situations rather than through grammar and exercises.  It is interesting to compare modern phrase books that we take on holiday with Florio’s book, have you ever looked at the phrase book and thought, ‘I’m not sure when I would ever need to say that’? Well Florio’s book is full of such conversations. In this video we demonstrate the dialogues for going to the shops, at the haberdasher’s and a rather thorough morning greeting.

Find out more about Florio’s Second Frutes

Cataloguing: An Incredible Hands-On Experience (6 September)

A guest post by Collections Intern, Mary Willet. Mary has been cataloguing a large group of prints commissioned by Waldo Lanchester in the 1950s and 60s. My name is Mary Willet and I have been an intern here at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust in the Collections Department since mid-July. Presently, I am gaining my Masters in Museum Studies at the University of Leicester. Shortly after arriving at the SBT, I began a cataloguing project that I was to work on for the duration of my internship.

Find out more about Cataloguing

Shakespeare in Portuguese (7 September)

Today is Brazil’s Independence Day which is celebrated throughout the country with outdoor events like parades, air shows, musical concerts and fireworks in the evening. To mark this occasion Brazilian professor and translator Rafael Raffaelli reflects on the challenges of translating Shakespeare into Portuguese. I was born in São Paulo, Brazil, in 1953. I have a PhD in Clinical Psychology, with Post-Doctoral studies in Theatre, and am currently a retired professor from the Federal University of Santa Catarina (Brazil). I translated into Portuguese four Shakespeare’s plays: As You Like It, The Tempest, A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Macbeth. To translate Shakespeare is an arduous endeavour and a challenge to every translator in any language.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Portuguese

Celebrating Stratford’s Transport Heritage (8 September)

Inspired by a new exhibition from our partners at Escape Arts, we explore some of Stratford’s transport heritage in our collections. Stratford-upon-Avon is recognised globally as a tourist destination, witnessed daily by the procession of trains and coaches bringing visitors to the town.  The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (SBT) hosts many of these visitors and its collections reflect both the arrival of tourists over the years and the movement of people around and through Stratford.

Find out more about  Stratford’s Transport Heritage

A Play Inspired by the Sale of Shakespeare’s Birthplace (9 September)

This House to Be Sold was a ‘musical extravaganza’ inspired by the imminent sale of Shakespeare’s Birthplace. On 9 September 1847, a one new act play described as a ‘musical extravaganza’ was performed for the first time. It was This House to be Sold and its author had been inspired by the imminent sale by public auction of Shakespeare’s Birthplace, due to take place on 16 September. That author was Joseph Stirling Coyne (1803-1868), an Irish playwright best known in the Victorian era for his highly successful one act comedies.

Find out more about A Play Inspired by the Sale of Shakespeare’s Birthplace

The Sale of Shakespeare’s Birthplace (16 September)

In 1847 the sale of William Shakespeare’s Birthplace and childhood home was announced. The will of the previous owner stipulated that the house should go to public auction for the benefit of the remaining heirs and the date was fixed for 16^th September of that year.

The day of the auction approached amid huge press interest.

Find out more about The Sale of Shakespeare’s Birthplace

Shakespeare in Armenian part IV (21 September)

On the occasion of Armenia’s independence day, guest blogger Gagik Stepan-Sarkissian reflects on the reception of Shakespeare’s tragedies in Armenia and the ubiquity of the name ‘Hamlet’ in his native country. My first encounter with Shakespeare was through Hamlet. I was 5 years old. There were two Hamlets in my Armenian kindergarten. There were further three Hamlets among my parents’ acquaintances. In all the time that I have lived in the country of the Bard I have yet to meet an Englishman called Hamlet.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Armenian

Advocating Research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust (22 September)

I’m Ella Hawkins, and I’ve spent the last six months collaborating with the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust as a Research Advocate. My task has been to explore the breadth of the Trust’s Archive, Library, and Museum Collections, and to share my findings through blog posts, social media, video presentations , and a public-facing talk. I’ve spent the majority of my time working in the Trust’s Reading Room and strongrooms.

Find out more about Advocating Research at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust

‘To be or not to be’ in 23 Languages (26 September)

The European Day of Languages has been celebrated since 2001 through activities such as radio programmes, festivals, language classes and activities for children. The aims of the EDL are to increase intercultural understanding, encourage language learning and to promote the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe.

Learn more about ‘To be or not to be’ in 23 Languages

Shakespeare in Czech (28 September)

To mark the occasion of St. Wenceslas Day, a Czech national holiday, Collections Librarian Mareike Doleschal tells us about Martin Hilsky’s Czech translations of A midsummer night’s dream and The sonnets which are held in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust’s Library.

Learn more about Shakespeare in Czech

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: September 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

Shakespeare in Swiss German (1 August)

On the occasion of the Swiss National Holiday, Shakespeare Birthplace Trust period interpreter Paul Avery explores the Trust’s Swiss connections. My connections to Switzerland come from my mother and her family.  Mum grew up in the high alpine region of the Grisons canton, close to the source of the River Rhine.  Through visits to Switzerland over the years, as well as quite a bit of background reading, I have gained an extensive appreciation of what the country is like, and of its history and traditions.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Swiss German

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Sir Daniel MacNee 1802 – 1882 (8 August)

Sir Daniel MacNee FRSE. RSA. visited the Birthplace twice in 1859, on 20 May and 7 June, signing the book on both occasions. MacNee, a celebrated portrait painter, was born at Fintry, Stirlingshire, on 4 June 1806, but moved with his mother to Glasgow on the death of his father when he was only 6 months old. He received his early education at the school of Mr Marshall leaving at the age of 13 to be apprenticed to the landscape painter John Knox where he remained for the next four years.

Find out more about Sir Daniel MacNee

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Bollock Dagger (11 August)

Acquired thanks to a donation in memory of Patrick Hartrey, 2017. This wonderful dagger was made during the 1500s and is known as a ‘bollock dagger’. The name, although slightly alarming, is more descriptive than utilitarian. These daggers were so-called because of the pair of lobes at the base of the haft, or handle. They are also known as ballock daggers, or kidney daggers.

Find out more about the Bollock Dagger

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Heritage Open Days 2017: Travels through Europe (16 August)

Join us for a free pop-up exhibition celebrating our world-class library, archive and museum collections relating to travel and Europe through the centuries. We will be taking part in Heritage Open Days on Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th September from 10am to 4pm. Come along and meet collections staff and volunteers and explore travel books contemporary with Shakespeare, eighteenth and nineteenth century travel diaries, translations of Shakespeare’s plays and original items from our museum collections.

Find out more about Heritage Open Days 2017

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Saving the Birthplace: The Committees (22 August)

When Shakespeare’s Birthplace was put up for auction in 1847, committees were formed in Stratford and London to raise the funds necessary to purchase the building for the nation. At a general meeting of persons interested in the preservation of Shakespeare’s House, 26^th August it was set out that the Birthplace should be purchased by subscription to prevent its removal or demolition and to preserve it as a national monument.

Find out more about Saving the Birthplace: The Committees 

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Sharing Shakespeare Souvenirs: past and present (29 August)

This post accompanies the display at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage which is part of research being carried out by Tara Hamling and Cathryn Enis at the University of Birmingham. A visit to the Shakespeare houses also offers the opportunity for some retail therapy. Looking around the gift shop extends the museum experience and plays an important part in shaping the sense of heritage that we take home and share with others. When browsing or shopping for souvenirs we participate in a long historical and cultural tradition, with a striking amount of continuity.

Find out more about Sharing Shakespeare Souvenirs

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Take a look at our video promoting our Heritage Open Days displays (9 – 10 September, 10am – 4pm, at the Shakespeare Centre) In this video we act out some dialogues from John Florio’s Second Frutes, a language learning book from 1591. The full blog will post on Monday 4 September.

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: August 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

First American edition of Shakespeare’s works (1st July)

SR 38/1795-6. 81034512. The plays and poems of William Shakespeare. 

On the occasion of American Independence Day, library volunteer Anna Kerr explores the history of the first American edition of Shakespeare’s works held at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust library.

Find out more about the Trust’s first American edition

William Russell Sedgfield 1826-1902 (7 July)

William Russell Sedgfield was accompanied by his younger brother, Sidney, when he visited the Birthplace on the 23 May 1859 giving his occupation as photographer. In the 1851 census he was resident in Marylebone with his brother Edward. He married Elizabeth Mary Knight in 1857 and the 1861 census records them living with their two year old daughter Ada in Hemel Hempstead. Their son William Herbert (Bertie) was born in April 1864.

Find out more about William Russell Sedgfield

Shakespeare et les traducteurs or: Shakespeare in French (14^th July)

SR47-81044682/French/1746-49:
LE THÉÂTRE ANGLOIS…

The French National celebrates its National day on 14^th July, the anniversary of the storming of the Bastille in 1789. Andrew Thomas, Digitisation Officer at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, sheds light on the French translations held in the Trust’s library collection.

Find out more about the Trust’s French translations

Jane Austen 200 (18 July)

Today it is 200 years since the death of Jane Austen. Jane was connected to the Leigh family who had estates in Stoneleigh and Adlestrop and we hold their collection at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust.

Coming from Hampshire myself I think of Jane Austen as quite a local hero. I am one of countless people who have grown up reading her books, watching the adaptations (I think I have seen three different versions of Pride and Prejudice) as well as the updated versions.

Find out more about Jane Austen 200

From Pall Mall to New Place Garden (21 July)

In the previous blog post we discovered how the monument in New Place Garden started life as part of the facade of Boydell’s Shakespeare Gallery in Pall Mall, London. But how did it come to be positioned where it is now? Many sites were looked at as possible locations for the monument but it was New Place Gardens which was recommended because of the obvious Shakespeare connections and because it would sit well within the gardens. The theatre which was located in New Place gardens at that time would soon be taken down so this space was available.

Find out more about From Pall Mall to New Place Garden

Shakespeare in Armenian, part III (24^th July)

On the occasion of Vartavar Day in Armenia, Jasmine Seymour, explores the Armenian translations of Shakespeare held in the Trust’s library.

47 Armenian/1921-2. 83428168. Three plays by Shakespeare translated into Armenian by Hovhannes Khan Massehian. 

My first encounter with the Armenian translations at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust library was in autumn 2014, when Rev. Dr. Paul Edmondson, Head of Research, enabled me to examine in Armenian translations held in the Trust’s library. Thanks to Paul’s wise decision I embarked on my doctoral research about Armenian heritage of Shakespeare. Yet Shakespearean investigation has been ongoing among Armenians since the early 1830s, systematically classified and studied after the opening of Shakespeare Library (1964) and Research Centre (1965) at the Institute of Arts of the Academy of Sciences in Yerevan.

Find out more about Armenian translations

The Early Librarians at SBT (28 July)

In 1873 the Trustees decided to appoint a librarian to supervise and catalogue the books and articles in the museum. It was also considered necessary in order to provide public access to the fast growing collections. Mr. Charles Jackman was appointed librarian on 24 June 1873 at a salary of £15 per annum for the first year plus the free occupation of the new house in Henley Street next to the old White Lion premises.

Find out more about The Early Librarians at SBT

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: July 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

Bram and the Guv’nor: ‘Who Knew Archives Could be so Much Fun?’ (2 June)

In the week of 15-21 May, the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was pleased to host a series of performances of Bram and the Guv’nor, a play by Jefny Ashcroft and directed by Jonathan Collings, based on the RSC’s Bram Stoker Collection. This production took place as part of the Arts Council funded project, Arts Friendly Archives, which is a ‘unique cultural intervention’ marrying performance, audience development and archives.

Find out more about Bram and the Guv’nor

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Letters from our Volunteers: Anna’s Time in the Library (4 June)

My name is Anna Kerr, and today I am writing about my experiences volunteering within the library at the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. I have been volunteering at the Trust since November 2016, and during my time working here I have gained a variety of skills, as well as learning more about what library work entails.

Find out more about Anna’s Time in the Library

Letters from our Volunteers: Ann’s Adventures in the Archives (5 June)

Read about Ann’s experience volunteering in our archives and reading room and discover why she has found it to be so rewarding.

Ten o’clock Thursday morning, and it’s time to say hello to Chris at the reception desk and sign in for my volunteer duties in the Reading Room. I have volunteered in the Reading Room for ten years now. People from all over the UK and beyond come here to research the Royal Shakespeare Company archives and undertake local or family history study.

Find out more about Ann’s Adventures in the Archives

The Restoration of Shakespeare’s Birthplace (16 June)

When Shakespeare’s Birthplace was purchased for the nation in September 1847 it was looking rather sorry for itself. Maintenance of the building had been neglected and early drawings showed that its appearance had changed. The earliest drawing of the property is from 1769 and shows the building with dormer windows and gable, a deep porch and projecting bay window. In Samuel Ireland’s sketch of 1795 these features had been removed, the bay window had become an ordinary lattice window, the porch had been taken away and the front had been fitted up as a butcher’s shop.

Find out more about The Restoration of Shakespeare’s Birthplace

For the Love of Shakespeare – A Teenager’s Story (19 June)

Tara Stankovic is an inspirational young woman, with a love of Shakespeare.  At just thirteen years old, Tara has mastered most of Shakespeare’s works, not just in her native Serbian but also in English, since discovering (in her own words) ‘the beauty of the Old English language’. In April 2016, Tara organised commemorations for Shakespeare’s 400^th anniversary in her Belgrade school. To mark the 90^th birthday of Queen Elizabeth II (also in Spring 2016), Tara recited Shakespeare at the White Palace, Belgrade, the residence of HRH Prince Aleksandar Karadjordjevic. This turned the media spotlight on Tara and her love of Shakespeare, also ensuring that the 400^th Anniversary celebrations were brought to a wide audience in Serbia.

As an ‘internet native’ Tara pays close attention to Shakespeare related activities in Stratford, not least at www.shakespeare.org.uk . In June 2016 she entered the SBT online competition ‘Design a Housewarming Card for New Place’. Tara won the 12-16 age category and her prize was a pass to visit the Shakespeare Family Homes in Stratford.

Find out more about For the Love of Shakespeare

Boydell’s Monument to Shakespeare (26 June)

Engraver and publisher, John Boydell, is most famous for creating the Boydell Shakespeare Gallery in the 1780s and an illustrated edition to go with it. He produced a monument to Shakespeare which now can be seen in the garden of New Place.

A paragraph in the Times in 1821 stated that the King “will become the patron of the undertaking to erect a monument, or mausoleum, to the memory of Shakespeare, at Stratford-upon-Avon.”

Find out more about Boydell’s Monument to Shakespeare

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Shakespeare in Swedish (24 June)

50.07 Swedish/1982. 83428150. Hamlet: Prins av Danmark / William Shakespeare. Translated into Swedish by C. A. Hagbergs.

Karin explores a translation of Hamlet’s iconic speech to mark Sweden’s celebration of Midsummer Eve.

Today is Midsummer’s Eve in Sweden, an annual national celebration in honour of the longest day of the year. Even though technically the longest day of the year is the 21st June, we conveniently move the celebration date to make sure it falls on a Friday every year (Swedes like things to be neat and orderly). We always celebrate on the “eve” in Sweden; Midsummer’s Eve, Christmas Eve, Valborg Eve (Walpurgis) etc. My mother used to say it’s because Swedes are impatient (which is about as good a theory as any). Celebrating Midsummer is a quintessentially Swedish activity and embedded in our national psyche, much as Shakespeare is proudly held aloft as the UK’s greatest bard and both are important aspects of our national identities.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Swedish

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: June 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

Szekspir po polsku (3 May)

Shakespeare was first performed in Poland in the early 1600s, in English, in northern towns such as Gdańsk where an English-speaking émigré community had settled during the Middle Ages for economic and religious reasons.  Nationwide interest in Shakespeare grew in the 1700s. King Stanisław August Poniatowski was himself a great admirer of Shakespeare, and translated fragments of Julius Caesar from English to French.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Polish

Other Translating Shakespeare blog posts this month have included German, Arabic and Armenian. 

19th-Century Superstardom: Six Months in the Life of Sir Henry Irving and Dame Ellen Terry (9 May)

The year is 1901. Sir Henry Irving – an internationally-famous Shakespearean actor – is 63, and has enjoyed enormous success during his two decades as manager of the Lyceum Theatre, London. Six years previously, Irving became the first actor to be awarded a knighthood. The actor-manager recently led his company on their sixth American tour.

Find out more about 19th-Century Superstardom

You can also read Dracula or the Undead…Bram and the Guv’nor at the SBT

Avis Hodgson: from actress to nurse (12 May)

On Remembrance Day 2010 the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust Collections received a package containing two scrapbooks showing photographs of soldiers hospitalised at Clopton House during the First World War.

Find out more about Avis Hodgson

Shakespeare in Spain: the Chesterfield Portrait on Loan (18 May)

Ginnett’s Circus (22 May)

On 6 April 1859 three members of this circus signed the Visitors’ Book at Shakespeare’s Birthplace in Stratford-upon-Avon. Ginnett’s Circus was founded in Marseille, France, by Jean Pierre Ginnett and his brother. After the Battle of Waterloo 1815, having been thought to be in the high ranks of the French Cavalry because of the large number of horses they owned, they were captured and brought to England aboard prison ships. Released when the war was over some members of the family remained in England and Jean Pierre started in show business with his Pony & Budgerigar show at Ludgate Circus in London.  From this small beginning the circus grew to become one of the largest in this country during the 19th century.

Find out more about Ginnett’s Circus

The Custodians of Shakespeare’s Birthplace (31 May)

The earliest custodian we have information for is Mary Hornby, a now notorious figure in the history of life in the Birthplace. Mary acted as custodian when her husband, Thomas, rented the Birthplace from Joan Hart’s descendants. She enjoyed showing tourists the house and its treasures and continued to do so even after the Hart family sold the property to the Court family in 1806. The Birthplace was incredibly popular and even the Prince Regent visited in 1815, signing the wall along with other famous visitors.

(Picture of Mary Rose c.1900)

Find out more about The Custodians of Shakespeare’s Birthplace

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: May 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.

National Gardening Week – Tudor Plants (13 Apr)

Taking a walk in a Tudor garden might throw up some surprises for the modern visitor. Can you tell spikenard from skirret? And do you know what to use them for? Spikenard, nardostachys jatamansi, is a member of the Valerian family and grows up to 1m in height with pink, bell-shaped flowers. It’s usually found in the Himalayas, around altitudes of 3000m-5000m. In Tudor times, it was used as a perfume, incense, or sedative, as well as to fight insomnia and help with childbirth.

Find out more about Tudor Plants

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Barnum vs. Dickens: Oh What a Circus! (21 Apr)

This year we celebrate 170 years since Shakespeare’s Birthplace was purchased for the nation and the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust was formed. P. T. Barnum and Charles Dickens both had a part to play. In 1844 American circus showman, P. T. Barnum, visited Shakespeare’s Birthplace and he liked it so much that he hatched a plan to take it down and move it to America!

Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810 – 1891) was an American showman and businessman who founded Barnum and Bailey Circus. Born in Connecticut; during his life he was an author, publisher, philanthropist and politician.

Find out more about Barnum vs. Dickens

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Shakespeare in Armenian (24 Apr)

The 24th of April is Armenian Genocide Memorial Day. It is a national holiday in Armenia and commemorated annually by Armenians around the world. To mark this important day in the Armenian calendar, I would like to introduce our readers to an Armenian translation of The Merchant of Venice held in the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust library.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Armenian

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Shakespeare in Dutch (27 Apr) 

Every year on 27 April, the holiday of King’s Day, or Koningsdag is held in the Netherlands in order to celebrate the birthday of the reigning monarch of the House of Orange, which is currently King Willem-Alexander. To show their pride in the royal family, the Dutch people don orange clothes and decorate their streets, and even pets with the colour orange. In Amsterdam, events such as street markets, children’s games, and carnivals are held. The first complete Dutch translation of Shakespeare’s works was also published in Amsterdam, between the years 1778-1782. The man we have to thank for this first Dutch edition and translation of Shakespeare is Albrecht Borchers.

Find out more about Shakespeare in Dutch

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‘The crowds were thick’…. Arthur Conan Doyle and Henry Irving at the SBT (29 Apr)

Playwright Jefny Ashcroft’s Bram and the Guv’nor is a free, professional play written using archive materials from the RSC collections held by the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust. In this blog, Annette Ormanczyk explores what visitors will be able to see in an accompanying exhibition of archive materials. Among the exhibition’s ‘star’ items is a letter from Arthur Conan Doyle, the famed author of Sherlock Holmes, to Henry Irving.

Find out more about Arthur Conan Doyle and Henry Irving at the SBT

The post Finding Shakespeare Blog Round-up: April 2017 appeared first on Finding Shakespeare.