Graphic detail | The bard’s ascent
When was greatness thrust upon William Shakespeare?
His popularity soared in the 1700s, thanks to noblewomen and eminent actors
“HE WAS NOT of an age, but for all time,” wrote Ben Jonson, a peer of William Shakespeare’s, in the preface to the First Folio—a collection of the bard’s works published in 1623, seven years after he died. Today, those words seem prophetic. In Jonson’s time, they were mostly just polite.
This article appeared in the Graphic detail section of the print edition under the headline "Greatness thrust upon him"
From the October 26th 2019 edition
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