Kirsten Tambling – författare

This unique collection of essays and images explores a series of objects in the Royal Collection as a means of assessing the interrelated histories of the British royal family and the Shakespearean afterlife across four centuries. Between the beginning of the eighteenth century and the late twentieth, Shakespeare became entrenched as the English national poet. Over the same period, the monarchy sought repeatedly to demonstrate its centrality to British nationhood. By way of close analysis of a selection of objects from the Royal Collection, this volume argues that the royal family and the Shakespearean afterlife were far more closely interwoven than has previously been realized. The chapters map the mutual development over time of the relationship between members of the British royal family and Shakespeare, demonstrating the extent to which each has gained sustained value from association with the other and showing how members of the royal family have individually and collectively constructed their identities and performed their roles by way of Shakespearean models. Each chapter is inspired by an object in (or formerly in) the Royal Collection and explores two interconnected questions: what has Shakespeare done for the royal family, and what has the royal family done for Shakespeare? The chapters range across the fields of art, theatre history, literary criticism, literary history, court studies and cultural history, showing how the shared history of Shakespeare and the royal family has been cultivated across media and across disciplines.

This unique collection of essays and images explores a series of objects in the Royal Collection as a means of assessing the interrelated histories of the British royal family and the Shakespearean afterlife across four centuries. Between the beginning of the eighteenth century and the late twentieth, Shakespeare became entrenched as the English national poet. Over the same period, the monarchy sought repeatedly to demonstrate its centrality to British nationhood. By way of close analysis of a selection of objects from the Royal Collection, this volume argues that the royal family and the Shakespearean afterlife were far more closely interwoven than has previously been realized. The chapters map the mutual development over time of the relationship between members of the British royal family and Shakespeare, demonstrating the extent to which each has gained sustained value from association with the other and showing how members of the royal family have individually and collectively constructed their identities and performed their roles by way of Shakespearean models. Each chapter is inspired by an object in (or formerly in) the Royal Collection and explores two interconnected questions: what has Shakespeare done for the royal family, and what has the royal family done for Shakespeare? The chapters range across the fields of art, theatre history, literary criticism, literary history, court studies and cultural history, showing how the shared history of Shakespeare and the royal family has been cultivated across media and across disciplines.

This unique collection of essays and images explores a series of objects in the Royal Collection as a means of assessing the interrelated histories of the British royal family and the Shakespearean afterlife across four centuries. Between the beginning of the eighteenth century and the late twentieth, Shakespeare became entrenched as the English national poet. Over the same period, the monarchy sought repeatedly to demonstrate its centrality to British nationhood. By way of close analysis of a selection of objects from the Royal Collection, this volume argues that the royal family and the Shakespearean afterlife were far more closely interwoven than has previously been realized. The chapters map the mutual development over time of the relationship between members of the British royal family and Shakespeare, demonstrating the extent to which each has gained sustained value from association with the other and showing how members of the royal family have individually and collectively constructed their identities and performed their roles by way of Shakespearean models. Each chapter is inspired by an object in (or formerly in) the Royal Collection and explores two interconnected questions: what has Shakespeare done for the royal family, and what has the royal family done for Shakespeare? The chapters range across the fields of art, theatre history, literary criticism, literary history, court studies and cultural history, showing how the shared history of Shakespeare and the royal family has been cultivated across media and across disciplines.

The British royal collection includes nearly 2,000 objects with a connection to Shakespeare. What stories do these objects tell of the relationship between the man often described as Britain's 'national poet' and Britain's royal family? Royal collecting of Shakespeare did not really begin until 1714, and has therefore broadly tracked the development, and entrenchment, of the Hanoveriana "e;and latterly the Saxe-Coburg Gothaa "e;royal family. Not entirely coincidentally, this period also saw a general increase in public interest in objects associated with Shakespeare's life and biography, often to the detriment of Shakespeare's worksa "e;a development partially spearheaded by the 'Shakespeare Jubilee' masterminded by the actor David Garrick at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769. The histories of specific works of art in the royal collection, from Thomas Gainsborough's painting of Mary Robinson to a collection of relic objects relating to 'Herne's Oak' and Shakespeare's mulberry tree, reveal how royal engagement with Shakespearean objects between 1714 and 1939 contributed to the development of a new constitutional settlement between the monarchy and its subjects under George IV, Queen Victoria, and George V and Queen Mary. During this period, objects relating to Shakespearea "e;increasingly regarded (by the royal family) as nostalgic souvenirs from a fantastical national pasta "e;were useful tools in shoring up these ideas, and in yoking the fortunes of the British monarchy to a new vision of shared national history.

The British royal collection includes nearly 2,000 objects with a connection to Shakespeare. What stories do these objects tell of the relationship between the man often described as Britain's 'national poet' and Britain's royal family? Royal collecting of Shakespeare did not really begin until 1714, and has therefore broadly tracked the development, and entrenchment, of the Hanoverian—and latterly the Saxe-Coburg Gotha—royal family. Not entirely coincidentally, this period also saw a general increase in public interest in objects associated with Shakespeare's life and biography, often to the detriment of Shakespeare's works—a development partially spearheaded by the 'Shakespeare Jubilee' masterminded by the actor David Garrick at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1769. The histories of specific works of art in the royal collection, from Thomas Gainsborough's painting of Mary Robinson to a collection of relic objects relating to 'Herne's Oak' and Shakespeare's mulberry tree, reveal how royal engagement with Shakespearean objects between 1714 and 1939 contributed to the development of a new constitutional settlement between the monarchy and its subjects under George IV, Queen Victoria, and George V and Queen Mary. During this period, objects relating to Shakespeare—increasingly regarded (by the royal family) as nostalgic souvenirs from a fantastical national past—were useful tools in shoring up these ideas, and in yoking the fortunes of the British monarchy to a new vision of shared national history.