The Pictorial Story of Shakespeare & Stratford-Upon-Avon [antikvár]

ISUPPOSE that more has been written about Shakespeare and Stratford - good, bad and indifferent - than any other single subject. At any rate, this is the conclusion I am sure you would reach with me if you could share the privilege I have of working in a library lined with shelf upon shelf of Shakespearean books, overlooking the lovely garden of the half-timbered house in Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, where the poet was born. What justification then is there for adding yet another publication, and what can a small, illustrated book like this hope to achieve ? If justification is necessary, it can be asserted that the appetite for literature, learned or popular, on the great dramatist and the background of his life and times is insatiable: never has Shakespeare stood higher in the estimation of the whole world than at the present time. Travellers, actors and journalists, no less than scholars, poets and speculators in generál, not to mention the multitude of curious ordinary men and women, all find here a subject of inexhaustible interest and fascination. I encounter daily evidence of this in my official duties The portrait of Shakespeare, prefixed to the First Folio of the plays (1623) and engraved by M. Droeshout in 1622. as Director of Shakespeare's Birthplace Trust, an institution which has come to be the focal centre of a world-wide Shakespeare cult. I never cease to wonder at the compelling, uniting power of the genius of our greatest poet and dramatist. As for this book itself, it quite obviously does not pretend to contribute anything new to the subject; but it can claim to be different in its conception from the usual category of guide book publications. Because it is different, and more especially because my experience telis me that its publication will fill a long-felt need, I have pleasure in commending it to a reading public which I know will be international in the widest sense. Here, in a convenient, pleasantly-produced formát, embellished by wellchosen pictures (somé not easily obtainable elsewhere) is presented a digest of the essential facts of Shakespeare's life and work, set against the background of Stratford-upon-Avon, the poet's birthplace, and the Elizabethan theatre in London. In other words, here are the answers to most of the questions which may be asked by anyone seeking an introduction to Shakespeare and Stratfordupon-Avon. Mr. Trewin's text is written not only with the sympathy and insight which we have come to expect from one of the leading dramatic critics and theatre historians of the day, but with the enthusiasm and authority of one who knows both Shakespeare and Stratford-upon-Avon from the inside, as it were. THE BIRTHPLACE TRUST The Shakespearean properties in Stratford are administered by a body known as the Trustees and Guardians of Shakespeare's Birthplace, which came into existence following the purchase of the Birthplace in 1847 for preservation as a national memóriái. The Trust has certain privileges and responsibilities of an educational character conferred by special Acts of Parliament. The Birthplace Trust has contributed a great deal to the development and preservation of the Shakespearean side of Stratford's heritage. Quite apart from owning and maintaining the Birthplace, New Place, Anne Hathaway's Cottage, Mary Arden's House and Hall's Croft, which are visited by people from all over the world, the Birthplace Trust has built up a Shakespearean library and museum and record collections containing books, manuscripts and relics of priceless value. The facilities it offers to students and its co-operation with the University of Birmingham, the British Council and the Memóriái Theatre are having a very considerable influence on the academic side of Shakespearean appreciation.