Shakespeare in his time: curator talks

‘Shakespeare in his time’, the current exhibition on at Sir George Grey Special Collections to mark 400 years since Shakespeare’s death, has seen many people come through to get a glimpse of the world in which Shakespeare lived and to see some of his own work and inspiration on display.

For those that have yet to see the exhibition, it remains on until the 19th of June, but for those who cannot make it, or want a little something extra, these curator talks are for you!

These short segments feature Georgia Prince, Iain Sharp, Kate de Courcy and Ian Snowdon, the curators of the exhibition, giving a little bit more background on particular areas and display cases they worked on.  

Have a listen below and find more on Auckland Libraries’ Soundcloud page!

Ref: William Shakespeare, Pericles, 1619, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1619 SHAK.

Curator Iain Sharp discusses the four Folios on display alongside the quarto edition of Pericles:

Ref: George Puttenhem, The arte of English poesie, 1589, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1589 PUTT.

Curator Georgia Prince discusses the monarchy during Shakespeare’s life and his relationship to it:

Ref: William Shakespeare, First Folio Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories & tragedies, pp.130-131, 1623, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1623 SHAK.

Curator Iain Sharp looks at some of the possible sources that Shakespeare could have drawn on:

Ref: William Dugdale, The history of St. Pauls Cathedral in London, 1658, Duke University Libraries, A-28 fD866.

Curator Ian Snowdon looks at William Dugdale’s The history of St. Pauls Cathedral in London, and Shakespeare’s connection to the cathedral itself:

Ref: Rembert Dodoens, A nievve herball, or, Historie of plantes, 1578, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Libraries, 1578 DODO. 

 Curator Kate de Courcy discusses herbals and what this meant in the period that Shakespeare lived:


Author: Laura Jamieson