{"id":53,"date":"2021-03-09T21:32:56","date_gmt":"2021-03-09T21:32:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/?post_type=publications&p=53"},"modified":"2021-05-21T11:40:17","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T10:40:17","slug":"inspiring","status":"publish","type":"publication","link":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/publication\/inspiring\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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\u2018gather his works\u2026 to praise him\u2019<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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In 1616, only six months after his friend William Shakespeare had died, Ben Jonson published a large collection of his own poems and plays in Folio format.<\/p>

This was an exceptional act of self-promotion.<\/p>

Did Jonson\u2019s book inspire Shakespeare\u2019s closest colleagues to do the same? Were they worried he would be forgotten?<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Finding their motivation<\/h4>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Plays are written to be performed for live audiences, not read in silence. In the early 1600s, printing a book involved a lot of physical work and money. Plays were rarely printed. Many performed texts of the age have since been lost, because little survives on paper. Why is William Shakespeare different? What inspired the complex and costly task of printing his plays all together in the First Folio?<\/p>

Following a successful career in London as a playwright, Shakespeare died in 1616. He left money in his will for three comrades from the King\u2019s Men, John Heminge, Henry Condell and leading actor Richard Burbage, to buy mourning rings to remember him. Did they promise Shakespeare, before his death, to prepare a book that would preserve his work for future generations?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>

Also in 1616, playwright and poet Ben Jonson published a compilation of his own work: an unusual and expensive act of self-promotion. We might imagine a proud Jonson walking into the Mermaid tavern, where Heminge, Condell and Burbage are raising a glass to their late friend Shakespeare. Jonson reveals a copy of his book, declaring, \u2018Gentlemen, I am published!\u2019\u00a0 Did Jonson\u2019s swagger determine the friends to honour Shakespeare\u2019s achievements in the same way?<\/span><\/p>

Or did publishers see the opportunity to profit from Shakespeare\u2019s name, dreaming up the idea to gather his plays in one book? Did actors or publishers have the idea first? No-one knows for sure \u2013 but both needed to work together to get the job done.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ben Jonson\u2019s folio contained both poems and plays. Shakespeare\u2019s folio was the first printed in England to contain only plays. Shakespeare\u2019s poetry was excluded: this was to be his memorial as a playwright.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\u2018gather his works\u2026 to praise him\u2019 In 1616, only six months after his friend William Shakespeare had died, Ben Jonson published a large collection of his own poems and plays in Folio format. This was an exceptional act of self-promotion. Did Jonson\u2019s book inspire Shakespeare\u2019s closest colleagues to do the same? Were they worried he […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":176,"menu_order":8,"template":"","acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nInspiring » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/publication\/inspiring\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Inspiring » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"\u2018gather his works\u2026 to praise him\u2019 In 1616, only six months after his friend William Shakespeare had died, Ben Jonson published a large collection of his own poems and plays in Folio format. This was an exceptional act of self-promotion. Did Jonson\u2019s book inspire Shakespeare\u2019s closest colleagues to do the same? 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