William Shakespeare
1564-1616
Shakespeare @ 12 Years Old • Highlighting the Holy Trinity Church across The River Avon
Shakespeare Nursed by Comedy and Tragedy: 1805 Copper Plate Engraved Print. Painted by George Romney, Engraved By B. Smith.
1564-1616
William Shakespeare was born on or about April 23, 1564 in Stratford-upon-Avon, in Warwickshire, England. His parents were Mary (Arden) and John Shakespeare. He was born under the Reign of Queen Elizabeth I who ruled until her death in 1603. Then lived the rest of his life under the Reign of King James I.
William Shakespeare is believed to have written 38 plays: tragedy, comedy and history, plus 157 sonnets. And he may have had a hand in writing other materials, known as Shakespeare’s Apocrypha.
Image: Shakespeare and His Friends depicting Mermaid Tavern 1604 London
Mermaid Tavern
A fanciful 1857 depiction of Shakespeare and his Contemporaries at the Mermaid Tavern Image Painted by John Faed; Copper Plate Engraving by James Faed.
Shakespeare is seated in the centre … The standing figure on Shakespeare’s left is that of Sir Walter Raleigh … He leans on the shoulder of the Earl of Southampton … Seated in the right foreground with his back to the spectator is Sir Robert Cotton, with Thomas Dekker on his right … The figures seated immediately behind Shakespeare are Ben Jonson, Donne, and Daniel …
The figure seated at the rear of the table is Bacon, and with him are seated Fletcher, Dorset and Camden … In the rear of the seated group stands Beaumont with hand extended and next to him stands Selden with Sylvester on the spectator’s extreme left.
The Mermaid Tavern was located in Cheapside, to the east of St. Paul’s Cathedral. It had entrances from both Friday Street and Bread Street hence the name the “Friday Street Club”. It became the gathering place for actors, playwrights, authors and poets who met the first Friday every month! This literary club first began in 1603.
Most of Shakespeare’s Plays were staged at the 1599 Globe Theatre; or “New Globe” Theatre in 1614, both theatres were located on the Thames River in London.
Rubbing From Shakespeare’s Grave at the Holy Trinity Church.
Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,
To dig the dust enclosed here.
Blessed be the man that spares these stones,
And cursed be he that moves my bones.
1617-1967
Popularity of Shakespeare grew as English Adventurers traveled around the world and carried the Works of Shakespeare with them. Some 400 years later the Works of Shakespeare could be found from all over the world translated in at least 70 languages.
1968-2022
Since 1968 media technology has advanced and the Works of Shakespeare can be found worldwide as books, phonograph albums, in film, videotape, CD, DVD and wide variety of digital forms.
USA Library Book Classification Standard: The Dewey Decimal System devotes the number 822.33 to Shakespeare.
US Library of Congress online search for Shakespeare … found more than 91,000 results in 2022.
