1.
Ben Jonson
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Benjamin Jonson was an English playwright, poet, actor, and literary critic of the 17th century, whose artistry exerted a lasting impact upon English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours, Ben Jonson said that his family originally came from the folk of the Anglo-Scottish border country, which genealogy is attested by the three spindles in the Jonson family coat of arms. One spindle is a heraldic device shared with the Border-country Johnstone family of Annandale. Jonsons clergyman father died two months before his birth, his mother married a master bricklayer two years later, Jonson attended school in St. Martins Lane. Later, a family friend paid for his studies at Westminster School, on leaving Westminster School, Jonson was to have attended the University of Cambridge, to continue his book learning but did not, because of his unwilled apprenticeship to his bricklayer stepfather. According to the churchman and historian Thomas Fuller, Jonson at this time built a wall in Lincolns Inn. After having been a bricklayer, Ben Jonson went to the Netherlands. After his military activity on the Continent, Jonson returned to England and worked as an actor, as an actor, Jonson was the protagonist “Hieronimo” in the play The Spanish Tragedy, by Thomas Kyd, the first revenge tragedy in English literature. Regarding his marriage Jonson described his wife to William Drummond as a shrew, concerning the family of Anne Lewis and Ben Jonson, the St. Martins Church registers indicate that Mary Jonson, their eldest daughter, died in November 1593, at six months of age. Moreover,32 years later, a son, also named Benjamin Jonson. By summer 1597, Jonson had an engagement in the Admirals Men, then performing under Philip Henslowes management at The Rose. John Aubrey reports, on authority, that Jonson was not successful as an actor, whatever his skills as an actor. By this time Jonson had begun to write plays for the Admirals Men. None of his early tragedies survive, however, an undated comedy, The Case is Altered, may be his earliest surviving play. In 1597 a play which he co-wrote with Thomas Nashe, The Isle of Dogs, was suppressed after causing great offence, arrest warrants for Jonson and Nashe were issued by Queen Elizabeth Is so-called interrogator, Richard Topcliffe. Jonson was jailed in Marshalsea Prison and charged with Leude and mutynous behaviour, two of the actors, Gabriel Spenser and Robert Shaw, were also imprisoned. A year later, Jonson was again imprisoned, this time in Newgate Prison. While in jail Jonson converted to Catholicism, possibly through the influence of fellow-prisoner Father Thomas Wright, in 1598 Jonson produced his first great success, Every Man in His Humour, capitalising on the vogue for humorous plays which George Chapman had begun with An Humorous Days Mirth
2.
1616 in literature
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This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1616. January 1 – King James I of England attends the masque The Golden Age Restored, the king asks for a repeat performance on January 4. February 1 – King James I of England grants Ben Jonson an annual pension of 100 marks, march 5 – Nicolaus Copernicus De revolutionibus orbium coelestium is placed on the Index Librorum Prohibitorum by the Roman Catholic Church. April 22 – Miguel de Cervantes dies in Madrid and is buried the day in the Trinitarias convent there. April 23 – William Shakespeare dies in retirement in Stratford-upon-Avon and is buried two days later in the Church of the Holy Trinity there, june 10 – Foundation date of Ets Haim Library, housed from 1675 at the Portuguese Synagogue. August – Christopher Beeston acquires the lease of the Cockpit off Drury Lane in London, october/November – Ben Jonsons satirical five-act comedy The Devil is an Ass is produced at the Blackfriars Theatre, London, by the Kings Men, poking fun at contemporary credence in witchcraft. November 6/25 – Ben Jonsons works are published in a folio edition. December 25 – Ben Jonsons Christmas, His Masque is presented before King James I of England, george Chapmans translations of Homer, previously issued in piecemeal fashion, are published complete for the first time, as The Whole Works of Homer, the first full English-language edition. Marie Venier, called Laporte, is the first actress to appear on the stage in Paris, johannes Valentinus Andreae – Chymische Hochzeit Christiani Rosencreutz Anno 1459 Christoph Besold – Axiomata Philosophico-Theologica Dr
3.
First Folio
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Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeares plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio, printed in folio format and containing 36 plays, it was prepared by Shakespeares colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell. It was dedicated to the pair of brethren William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and his brother Philip Herbert. The paper industry in England was then in its infancy and the quantity of quality rag paper for the book was imported from France. It is thought that the typesetting and printing of the First Folio was such a job that the Kings Men simply needed the capacities of the Jaggards shop. William Jaggard was old, infirm and blind by 1623, and died a month before the book went on sale, most of the work in the project must have been done by his son Isaac. The First Folios publishing syndicate also included two stationers who owned the rights to some of the plays that had been previously printed, William Aspley. Smethwick had been a partner of another Jaggard, Williams brother John. The printing of the Folio was probably done between February 1622 and early November 1623, the printer originally expected to have the book ready early, since it was listed in the Frankfurt Book Fair catalogue as a book to appear between April and October 1622. The thirty-six plays of the First Folio occur in the order given below, each play is followed by the type of source used, as determined by bibliographical research. Comedies 1 The Tempest * – the play was set into type from a prepared by Ralph Crane. Crane produced a high-quality result, with formal act/scene divisions, frequent use of parentheses and hyphenated forms,2 The Two Gentlemen of Verona * – another transcript by Ralph Crane. 3 The Merry Wives of Windsor – another transcript by Ralph Crane,4 Measure for Measure * – probably another Ralph Crane transcript. 5 The Comedy of Errors * – probably typeset from Shakespeares foul papers,6 Much Ado About Nothing – typeset from a copy of the quarto, lightly annotated. 7 Loves Labours Lost – typeset from a copy of Q1. 8 A Midsummer Nights Dream – typeset from a copy of Q2, well-annotated,9 The Merchant of Venice – typeset from a lightly edited and corrected copy of Q1. 10 As You Like It * – from a quality manuscript,11 The Taming of the Shrew * – typeset from Shakespeares foul papers, somewhat annotated, perhaps as preparation for use as a prompt-book. 12 Alls Well That Ends Well * – probably from Shakespeares foul papers or a manuscript of them,13 Twelfth Night * – typeset either from a prompt-book or a transcript of one
4.
William Shakespeare
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William Shakespeare was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the worlds pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called Englands national poet, and the Bard of Avon and his extant works, including collaborations, consist of approximately 38 plays,154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and a few other verses, some of uncertain authorship. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright, Shakespeare was born and brought up in Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire. At the age of 18, he married Anne Hathaway, with whom he had three children, Susanna, and twins Hamnet and Judith. Sometime between 1585 and 1592, he began a career in London as an actor, writer. He appears to have retired to Stratford around 1613, at age 49, Shakespeare produced most of his known work between 1589 and 1613. His early plays were primarily comedies and histories, which are regarded as some of the best work ever produced in these genres. He then wrote mainly tragedies until about 1608, including Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, in his last phase, he wrote tragicomedies, also known as romances, and collaborated with other playwrights. Many of his plays were published in editions of varying quality and it was prefaced with a poem by Ben Jonson, in which Shakespeare is hailed, presciently, as not of an age, but for all time. In the 20th and 21st centuries, his works have been adapted and rediscovered by new movements in scholarship. His plays remain highly popular and are studied, performed. William Shakespeare was the son of John Shakespeare, an alderman and a successful glover originally from Snitterfield, and Mary Arden and he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and baptised there on 26 April 1564. His actual date of birth unknown, but is traditionally observed on 23 April. This date, which can be traced back to an 18th-century scholars mistake, has proved appealing to biographers because Shakespeare died on 23 April 1616 and he was the third child of eight and the eldest surviving son. At the age of 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, the consistory court of the Diocese of Worcester issued a marriage licence on 27 November 1582. The next day, two of Hathaways neighbours posted bonds guaranteeing that no lawful claims impeded the marriage, twins, son Hamnet and daughter Judith, followed almost two years later and were baptised 2 February 1585. Hamnet died of unknown causes at the age of 11 and was buried 11 August 1596, after the birth of the twins, Shakespeare left few historical traces until he is mentioned as part of the London theatre scene in 1592. The exception is the appearance of his name in the bill of a law case before the Queens Bench court at Westminster dated Michaelmas Term 1588 and 9 October 1589
5.
1623 in literature
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This article presents lists of the literary events and publications in 1623. February 2 – The Kings Men perform Twelfth Night at the court of King James I of England, june 29 – Pedro Calderón de la Barca makes his debut as a playwright, his Amor, honor y poder being performed at the Spanish Court. Two other plays follow this year, july 20 – Henry Herbert becomes the deputy of Sir John Ashley, Master of the Revels, and takes over the offices duties. From 1623 until the close in 1642, Herbert effectively controls professional drama in England. Procopiuss long-lost Secret History is rediscovered in the Vatican Library, françois le Métel de Boisrobert comes under the patronage of Cardinal Richelieu
6.
Masque
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The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment that flourished in 16th- and early 17th-century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio. Professional actors and musicians were hired for the speaking and singing parts, in the tradition of masque, Louis XIV of France danced in ballets at Versailles with music by Jean-Baptiste Lully. The masque tradition developed from the elaborate pageants and courtly shows of ducal Burgundy in the late Middle Ages, masques were typically a complimentary offering to the prince among his guests and might combine pastoral settings, mythological fable, and the dramatic elements of ethical debate. There would invariably be some political and social application of the allegory, such pageants often celebrated a birth, marriage, change of ruler or a Royal Entry and invariably ended with a tableau of bliss and concord. Masque imagery tended to be drawn from Classical rather than Christian sources, Masque thus lent itself to Mannerist treatment in the hands of master designers like Giulio Romano or Inigo Jones. The New Historians, in works like the essays of Bevington, in English masques, purely musical interludes might be accompanied by a dumbshow. The rustic presentation of Pyramus and Thisbe as an entertainment in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream offers a familiar example. Spectators were invited to join in the dancing, at the end, the players would take off their masks to reveal their identities. A descriptive narrative of a processional masque is the masque of the Seven Deadly Sins in Edmund Spensers The Faerie Queene, a particularly elaborate masque, performed over the course of two weeks for Queen Elizabeth, is described in the 1821 novel Kenilworth, by Sir Walter Scott. Later, in the court of James I, narrative elements of the masque became more significant, plots were often on classical or allegorical themes, glorifying the royal or noble sponsor. At the end, the audience would join with the actors in a final dance, Ben Jonson wrote a number of masques with stage design by Inigo Jones. Their works are thought of as the most significant in the form. Sir Philip Sidney also wrote masques, william Shakespeare wrote a masque-like interlude in The Tempest, understood by modern scholars to have been heavily influenced by the masque texts of Ben Jonson and the stagecraft of Inigo Jones. There is also a sequence in his Romeo and Juliet. John Miltons Comus is described as a masque, though it is reckoned a pastoral play. Reconstructions of Stuart masques have been few and far between, part of the problem is that only texts survive complete, there is no complete music, only fragments, so no authoritative performance can be made without interpretive invention. In the 18th-century, masques were even less frequently staged, but because of its ephemeral nature, not a lot of documentation related to masques remains, and much of what is said about the production and enjoyment of masques is still part speculation. While the masque was no longer as popular as it was at its height in the 17th Century, during the late 17th century, English semi-operas by composers such as Henry Purcell had masque scenes inset between the acts of the play proper
