DC -- Library of Congress -- Exhibit (Agile): Shakespeare's 450th:
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Description of Pictures: Happy 450th Birthday William Shakespeare (1564-2014)!
To celebrate, select items from the Library of Congress's diverse collections show just a few of the ways artists have illustrated Shakespeare's plays and characters over hundreds of years. A reduced facsimile edition of the First Folio shows Martin Droeshout's famous portrait of Shakespeare. The First Folio was published in 1623 and was the first collected edition of the plays.
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LOCSHA_141220_01.JPG: Happy 450th Birthday William Shakespeare (1564-2014)!
To celebrate, select items from the Library of Congress's diverse collections show just a few of the ways artists have illustrated Shakespeare's plays and characters over hundreds of years. A reduced facsimile edition of the First Folio shows Martin Droeshout's famous portrait of Shakespeare. The First Folio was published in 1623 and was the first collected edition of the plays.
LOCSHA_141220_07.JPG: Stage and Commercial Illustrations:
Popular actress Lillie Langtry is photographed as Cleopatra for a London stage production, 1890-1891. Like film tie-in books today, illustrated editions included photographs of famous actors.
LOCSHA_141220_11.JPG: Federal Threatre Project:
As part of the 1930s New Deal, the Works Projects Administration funded theater and other live artistic performances in the US. The Library of Congress has the archive of the Federal Theatre Project, including scripts, set designs, costume sketches, posters, and playbills. This costume for Sir Andrew Aguecheek was designed by Robert Byrne for a staging of Twelfth Night which opened on September 19, 1935 in New York City.
LOCSHA_141220_17.JPG: Illustrated Books:
The 1709 "Nicholas Rowe edition" established the tradition of illustrated Shakespeare collections. The illustrations are based on readings of the plays, stage productions, and costumes of the era. Engravings, etching, color drawings, cartoons, and photographs have all been used to illustrate Shakespeare. By the 19th century, home libraries throughout the English-speaking world included illustrated Shakespeares.
LOCSHA_141220_24.JPG: Shakespeare and his characters have been used to sell everything from beer to smart phones. Both chewing tobacco and Romeo and Juliet were popular throughout 19th century America.
LOCSHA_141220_31.JPG: Shakespeare for Modern Children:
Full-color illustrations by fantasy artist Judy Mastrangelo illuminate this 1989 edition of a few of the Lambs' tales. Compare the three different artistic visions of Romeo and Juliet displayed here. Did you read Romeo and Juliet in school?
Children's lavishly-illustrated books of Shakespeare in poetry and prose versions remain popular, including a new series of toddler board books.
LOCSHA_141220_35.JPG: Shakespeare for Children:
In 1807, Charles and Mary Lamb published the two-volume Tales from Shakespeare, a simplified version of the complicated plots and language written specifically for children. Hundreds of editions have followed, often illustrated by famous authors of their time.
LOCSHA_141220_47.JPG: Arthur Rackham, 1867-1939:
A century after the first Tales from Shakespeare, Arthur Rackham illustrated this 1909 edition. Rackham was already known for his illustrations of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and he became one of the most famous artists of Great Britain's "golden age' of book illustration. Deluxe editions of his illustrated books were given as cherished gifts.
LOCSHA_141220_51.JPG: 20th Century Fine Press: Cranach Press & Janus Press:
The Rare Book and Special Collections Division is home to many fine press and artists' books and, in some cases, owns the archive of the book or press. This can include artists' sketches and proofs, correspondence, engravings, woodcuts, and book mock-ups. Two fine press versions of Shakespeare are shown here with items from their archives.
LOCSHA_141220_56.JPG: Cranach Press:
Writer and arts patron, Harry Kessler, founded the Cranach Press in 1913 in Weimar, Germany, and commissioned Edward Gordan Craig, a noted English theatrical designer, to illustrate a magnificent edition of Hamlet. Craig designed and cut the woodcuts used for both the German (1928) and English (1930) editions. Special type was also designed for this work, now considered one of the finest examples of the book arts movement. Square and rectangular woodblocks displayed here mimic Craig's modern stage set for the influential Moscow ArtTheatre production of Hamlet in 1911-1912.
LOCSHA_141220_59.JPG: Cranach Press
LOCSHA_141220_68.JPG: Janus Press:
Claire Van Vliet founded the Janus Press in 1955 and has published more than 90 books in the contemporary artists book movement, experimenting with new materials, different print techniques, unusual shapes and bindings, and unorthodox texts. Her woodcuts illustrate this 1986 Theodore Press King Lear. The Library of Congress holds the entire Janus Press archive. Two of Van Vliet's preliminary woodcuts of King Lear are displayed here along with the final version, "Enraged Lear," in the book.
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