The Quest for Shakespeare: The Peculiar History and Surprising Legacy of the New Shakspere Society PDF
Preview The Quest for Shakespeare: The Peculiar History and Surprising Legacy of the New Shakspere Society
π π π π π π ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ π π π The Quest for π π π ∞ ∞ ∞ Shakespe are ∞ ∞ π π π The Peculiar History and Surprising Legacy π π π ∞ of the New Sh∞akspere Society ∞ ∞ ∞ π π π π π π ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ π π π π π π ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ π π π π π π ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ π π π π π π ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ π π π Jeffrey Kahan π π π ∞ ∞ ∞ The Quest for Shakespeare Jeffrey Kahan The Quest for Shakespeare The Peculiar History and Surprising Legacy of the New Shakspere Society ISBN 978-3-319-48780-9 ISBN 978-3-319-48781-6 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-3-319-48781-6 Library of Congress Control Number: 2016960747 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2 017 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfi lms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specifi c statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the pub- lisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. Cover design by Jenny Vong Printed on acid-free paper This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by Springer Nature The registered company is Springer International Publishing AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland To Dave Oltman and Stanley Stewart, because I count my blessings. A CKNOWLEDGMENTS I want to acknowledge Al Clark, Professor of Humanities, who has sup- ported my research through seemingly endless cycles of austerity and cri- sis. Al, your boundless energy, curiosity and dedication to excellence have served as a polestar for this academic wanderer. On a related astrological note, I want to praise to the skies my Palgrave Editorial Director, Brigitte Shull, who, from fi rst contact to contract has been a shining beacon of positivity. Over the course of penning this book, I have relied upon the wonderful staff at the Huntington and Folger Libraries, chief among them Christopher Adde, General Collections Manager, and, at the Folger, Betsy Walsh, Head of Reader Services. The brilliant and effi cient Joshua McEvilla aided in the proofi ng of this manuscript—in syndicated TV terms, think Peter Falk’s Colombo meets Commander Data. I also want to thank my friend, Mark Zuckerberg, and everyone else in my Facebook network for daily affi rmations, generous comments, comical memes, and near-constant giggles. While much can be said against social media—and in some ways the New Shakspere Society is a forerunner of that relentless need to affi rm the actions of your contacts and colleagues—in my particu- lar instance Shakespeare Friends, Academic Therapist is IN, and other FB communities have enriched my life and made me still more aware of the sprockets in the academic hamster wheel. It’s also made me aware of mor- tality. A number of famous academics have recently passed, among them, Sylvan Barnet, Anne Barton, René Girard, Jim Harner, Diane Hoeveler, Lisa Jardine, Russ McDonald, and, on a more personal note, my friend and counselor Stanley Stewart. I want to acknowledge all of these scholars, along with my very-much alive role models: Ed Pechter, Jack Lynch, Nick vii viii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Groom, A. J. Hartley, Judith Pascoe, Anjili Babbar, and Terri Bourus. I also want to acknowledge the collective roles of my various Zen teachers, Kosen Eshu, and the Harrises, Sam and Dan and, above all, Piper, my cocker spaniel (also recently passed) who taught me how to live and love every moment of every day—his example also explains my obsession with deep stretching and soft chew toys. Other revitalizing spells were cast by the musical wizardry of Alvin Lee, Ritchie Blackmore, and weekend jams at Bell’s Blues workshop. Writing a book is a straightforward task. Just put a word on a page. Repeat 65,000 times. But that process can only come with faith, strength, consistency, encouragement, and devotion. And coffee. Lots of coffee. And luck. A small part of Chapter 4 contains thoughts and quotations which were fi rst aired in “‘I tell you what mine author says’: A Brief History of Stylometrics,” E LH: English Literary History 82, no. 3 (2015): 815–44. It was in fact the unexpected success of that article that led me directly to this study, and I am grateful to E LH for the permission to herein repurpose. In closing, I want to remind all writers (including myself) that the last book you write may well be the last book you write. Books are common but getting published is special (and not in a yellow bus kind of way). Just some things to keep in mind as you turn the page …. C ONTENTS 1 squabbles 1 2 skirmishes 39 3 war 7 1 4 remembrance 1 03 5 inheritance 137 Bibliography 1 47 Index 161 ix L T IST OF ABLES Table 1.1 Shakespeare scenes in T wo Noble Kinsmen , as ascribed by Fleay 18 xi : INTRODUCTION A NEW SOCIETY The New Shakspere Society (1874–1893) lasted for only 19 years but in that short time proved to be an engine of activity and innovation. Its fi rst formal meeting was at University College, London, on March 13, 1874; throughout the U.K., members soon established their own regional centers. 1 International chapters formed in Montreal, Melbourne, and all manner of places between: Berlin, Bonn, Copenhagen, Dublin, Moscow, Reykjavik, Strasburg, Leipsic, Vienna, and, in America, Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Philadelphia. 2 At its height, the New Shakspere Society had hundreds of members and no less than sixty-six distinguished vice- presidents, among them, Queen Victoria’s youngest son, Prince Leopold; the Emperor Napoleon’s nephew, Prince Louis-Lucien Bonaparte; and Henry Hucks Gibbs, Deputy-Governor of the Bank of England. 3 In the 1880s, the poet Robert Browning served as the Society’s president; other literary luminaries included the Poet Laureate Alfred Tennyson, Dante Rossetti, Matthew Arnold, John Ruskin, and novelist Thomas Adolphus Trollope, brother to the still more famous Anthony Trollope. Important, well-published Shakespeareans were enlisted: from America, H. H. Furness and H. N. Hudson; from Germany, Nicolaus Delius and Karl Friedrich Elze; and from Britain, Edward Dowden, Frederick Gard Fleay, C. M. Ingleby, R. G. Moulton, T. L. Oliphant, James Orchard Halliwell- Phillipps, Walter Skeat, Arthur Symons, and William Aldis Wright, to name but a few. 4 The renowned Chaucer scholar and editor of the O xford English Dictionary , F. J. Furnivall, served as the Society’s director, editor, contributor, and tireless promoter. xiii
The list of books you might like
