Hannah Crummé is a Shakespeare researcher at the National Archives in Kew. By Me William Shakespeare – an exhibition created by King’s College London and the National Archives as part of events marking the 400th anniversary of the bard’s death – runs at Somerset House, London, until 29 May.
Are there still surprises to be found in the paperwork Shakespeare left behind?
We hold around 125 related documents and we know broadly what they are, but most of them haven’t been fully explored in terms of the information they contain and the archival and bureaucratic processes that created them. Working with colleagues from King’s College has been illuminating as they were coming from a purely literary perspective.
Can you give an example of the differing approaches?
There’s a document that lists all the performances at court, which provides literary historians with the definitive dates of the first production of many plays. From our perspective, however, that document relates to other records here, such as expenses paid for props, which create a fuller picture. Another interesting element of that document is that someone rather irresponsibly took it home during the 19th century and its validity has been questioned. But because it ties in with receipts in the exchequer records, we can say it’s genuine. That inter- relatedness of documents allows us to learn more about Shakespeare’s life in London.
What else did he get up to in the capital?
Shakespeare was a witness in a case before the Court of Request in 1612. Through his testimony, we discovered that eight years earlier he had been lodging in the house of a Huguenot wigmaker and had acted as the go-between to arrange the marriage of the daughter of the family to the wigmaker’s apprentice. But a financial settlement was never paid, and we know from other documents that in the same year Shakespeare wrote Measure for Measure, a play with themes of dowries and marriage. From a potentially dry document, we get a sense of how his private life inspired his writing.
How and when did Shakespeare first enter your life?
Where I grew up in rural America there wasn’t much to do in the summer except pick berries. When I was 11, a group of us put on a production of A Comedy of Errors in our backyard and made our parents sit through all three hours. I consider myself privileged to do what I do now. To an American, old stuff is extra cool – 400-year-old writing is more exciting than bricks and mortar. It’s amazing to have an important Shakespeare signature that has lasted so long.
Are there still surprises to be found in the paperwork Shakespeare left behind?
We hold around 125 related documents and we know broadly what they are, but most of them haven’t been fully explored in terms of the information they contain and the archival and bureaucratic processes that created them. Working with colleagues from King’s College has been illuminating as they were coming from a purely literary perspective.
Can you give an example of the differing approaches?
There’s a document that lists all the performances at court, which provides literary historians with the definitive dates of the first production of many plays. From our perspective, however, that document relates to other records here, such as expenses paid for props, which create a fuller picture. Another interesting element of that document is that someone rather irresponsibly took it home during the 19th century and its validity has been questioned. But because it ties in with receipts in the exchequer records, we can say it’s genuine. That inter- relatedness of documents allows us to learn more about Shakespeare’s life in London.
What else did he get up to in the capital?
Shakespeare was a witness in a case before the Court of Request in 1612. Through his testimony, we discovered that eight years earlier he had been lodging in the house of a Huguenot wigmaker and had acted as the go-between to arrange the marriage of the daughter of the family to the wigmaker’s apprentice. But a financial settlement was never paid, and we know from other documents that in the same year Shakespeare wrote Measure for Measure, a play with themes of dowries and marriage. From a potentially dry document, we get a sense of how his private life inspired his writing.
How and when did Shakespeare first enter your life?
Where I grew up in rural America there wasn’t much to do in the summer except pick berries. When I was 11, a group of us put on a production of A Comedy of Errors in our backyard and made our parents sit through all three hours. I consider myself privileged to do what I do now. To an American, old stuff is extra cool – 400-year-old writing is more exciting than bricks and mortar. It’s amazing to have an important Shakespeare signature that has lasted so long.
