Brought to book
Tue 22 May 2018You may not be familiar with Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles Of England, Scotland And Ireland but you will certainly be aware of some of the works it helped inspire.
First published in 1577, Holinshed’s Chronicles – often referred to as just ‘Holinshed’ – is a large collaborative work describing England, Scotland, Ireland and their histories from their first inhabitation to the mid-16th century. The work was an important source for many writers of the day, including Shakespeare – for whom it was the major source of his History plays – and Canterbury’s very own Christopher Marlowe, who drew on them for his play Edward II.
Recently, a second edition of the work, dating from 1587 was loaned to The Marlowe by the Marlowe Society, to be displayed at The Kit as part of the city’s Marlowe Day celebrations.
The idea for Holinshed’s work goes back to 1548, when the prominent London printer and bookseller Reyner (or Reginald) Wolfe ambitiously decided to produce a universal history of the world. After Wolfe’s death in 1573, his assistant Raphael Holinshed took over the project, hired more writers and restrained its scope to the British Isles. The Chronicles was first published in 1577 in a two-volume folio edition. After Holinshed’s death in 1580, Abraham Fleming published the significantly expanded and revised second edition of 1587 in a larger folio format.
Raphael Holinshed’s Chronicles Of England, Scotland And Ireland 1587. With kind permission of the Marlowe Society at the University of Kent, Special Collections and Archives.
Even if you missed seeing the books, regular visitors to our theatre will already be familiar with them, as one of the volumes features in the large photograph in our foyer depicting ‘young Marlowe’, which was commissioned as part of the celebration of our building’s 5th anniversary in 2016.
It’s hoped that the volumes may in future form part of the exhibition celebrating Canterbury’s literary heritage which The Kit will host.