What secrets were revealed by a 400-year-old edition of Shakespeare's latest play, recently found in Spain

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Shakespeare is for England what Pushkin is for Russia. In his homeland, as a writer, no one has yet been able to surpass him. The most interesting thing about this playwright is that no one knows the truth about him. About William Shakespeare there is only a mass of legends, controversial opinions and a great legacy in the form of his magnificent literary works. Recently, Shakespeare's last play was discovered in Spain, in its first unique edition. What is this work and why has it caused such a resonance in literary circles?

William Shakespeare wrote beautiful plays that are relevant for any time, which do not stop being staged in theaters around the world and filming. The actors dream of playing the main role in them, as athletes dream of getting a gold medal at the Olympics. The phenomenon of the popularity of this poet and playwright during the Renaissance can be easily explained: even then he wrote about what worries any person at all times. Human values, experiences, torments of love, ideals and aspirations of the soul, all this, multiplied by the gift of a writer, provided Shakespeare's works with true immortality.

It is not surprising that the author's rare editions are incredibly valuable. Many publications are kept in libraries, museums and educational institutions. In colleges and universities around the world, the centuries-old texts held by these academic institutions are looked after by highly trained antiquarian librarians. The climate is very carefully monitored there so that fragile paper and the bindings of rare books are not damaged.

A visit to places like the Andrews Clark Library at the University of California, California or the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library at the University of Toronto is truly inspiring. The thousands of volumes contained there represent the finest intellectual and cultural achievements of humankind since the invention of the printing press. The press was invented in 1440 by Johannes Gutenberg.

The people who are entrusted with such an important mission of preserving the human literary heritage, taking care of the texts, are examples of organization and meticulousness. But even they make mistakes from time to time. And it was precisely because of one such mistake that a volume of Shakespeare's late play, Two Noble Relatives, was accidentally found by a Canadian scholar. He was doing research in the philosophy section of the college library, and the book belonged to the English literature section. This unique edition will soon be four hundred years old!

The book was discovered by Dr. Jonathan Stone of the University of Barcelona while scouring the shelves of the Royal Scottish College (RSC) in Salamanca. At one time, this educational institution trained Catholic priests who received a deep education in English writers and playwrights.

In late September, the college issued a press release stating that this Shakespeare play had been included in a collection of English plays and had not been included in the philosophy section. This book is one of Shakespeare's little-known works, at least for the public, for sure, and probably for some scholars too. The writer wrote it together with another playwright John Fletcher. The work is based on Chaucer's Tale of a Knight and is the story of two men who were first best friends, but eventually became rivals for the heart of the same woman. The play was published in 1634 and is one of the oldest surviving works of William Shakespeare.

The college that kept this literary rarity is a very small Spanish educational institution. Its director many centuries ago was Hugh Semple, who was fond of English plays and literature. Dr. Stone suggested that in all likelihood the book arrived at the college “as part of some student's personal library … or at the request of (then) RSC director Hugh Semple. In those days, the college served as a kind of link between the two countries, at least in a cultural context. "This small community," Stone said, "was for a short time the most significant intellectual bridge between the Spanish and English-speaking worlds."

At the time this play was published, Shakespeare left for Stratford-upon-Avon, a small town where he spent the rest of his days as an ordinary provincial squire. The playwright was fond of gardening and other similar activities that require calm and leisurely. He died there at a relatively young age, fifty-two years old.

Two Noble Relatives has been found along with over a dozen other works, but none is more culturally significant than Shakespeare's play. It is terrifying to imagine that a book could have remained on the wrong shelf, mistakenly hidden by a busy librarian, for many more years if Stone had not come up and flipped through the section of philosophy.

It was one of those happy accidents that antique booksellers, librarians and scientists have dreamed of for years. The Two Noble Relatives are now shelved in the right place, along with other great works from the collection of this greatest playwright in England.

For more interesting details from the life of the legendary writer, read our article. whether Shakespeare was an avid weed fan and what his work says about it.