Tag Archives: British Library

Shakespeare on the golf course

Golf may be one of the oldest of games, but it doesn’t seem to have been Shakespeare’s favourite as he never mentions it directly. He just might have played a few shots though: Mary, Queen of Scots, for one, is thought … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s world view: the history of maps

It’s hard, indeed impossible, for us to imagine what it would be like to live without a clear idea of the world outside our own immediate locality. But many people of Shakespeare’s period might never have seen what we would … Continue reading

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Shakespeare’s blasts of January

When icicles hang by the wall And Dick the shepherd blows his nail And Tom bears logs into the hall And milk comes frozen home in pail, When blood is nipp’d and ways be foul, Then nightly sings the staring … Continue reading

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Celebrating Shakespeare at the turn of the year

As it’s the end of the year I want to thank readers of The Shakespeare blog for making it such a success. During 2012 the blog has had over 67,000 visits and over 100,000 page views. 239 of you have … Continue reading

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Medieval images of Christmas-time

As it’s Christmas, the darkest time of the year I’m putting on the Shakespeare blog a few images drawn from the British Library’s Illuminated Manuscripts stunningly beautiful collection. Thousands of images are now online: the connections to Shakespeare are a … Continue reading

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Shakespearean voices

I’ve written several times about how much I love hearing Shakespeare spoken well, but what exactly does that mean? There are many aspects to speaking Shakespeare, and theatre companies now employ specialist voice coaches to help actors deal with the challenges. … Continue reading

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John Taylor, the water poet

John Taylor, known as the Water-Poet, was one of the characters of Elizabethan and Jacobean London. On 25 July 1622 he undertook an impressive publicity stunt, attempting to row down the Thames from London to the Isle of Sheppey in … Continue reading

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Writing Britain at the British Library

When visiting other people’s houses, I always enjoy looking at their bookshelves to see what they like to read, and to keep. All my Shakespeare books are in the room where I work, while books on other favourite subjects are … Continue reading

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O power, what art thou in a madman’s eyes

Any other weekend, the death of singer Amy Winehouse would have been enough to brand it as her family have, “this terrible time”, but over the last few days the unfolding national tragedy in Norway has stolen the headlines, all … Continue reading

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Jane Austen and Shakespeare “blotting their papers”

It’s been an exciting few days for anyone interested in manuscript versions of literary works. At Sotheby’s on 14 July a large number of magnificent manuscripts written by some of the most famous names of English literature was auctioned. Items … Continue reading

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