- -Commentary by Arthur Freeman, author of books and articles on the literature and bibliography of the age of Shakespeare
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Shakespeare’s verse, like his plays, has established
itself at the very foundation of English literature: again and
again the reader is confronted with phrases that have become proverbial
(“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?”) and with
combinations of words (“the remembrance of things past”) that
bear the special resonance of cultural icons. Only the King James version
of the Bible can claim a greater influence over the shape and cadence
of English-language expression.
Nearly all the best-known and most enduring of Shakespeare’s poems, the 154 sonnets, were written in the first decade of his theatrical career. These compellingly personal works were circulated in handwritten copies among their author’s circle of acquaintances in the mid-to-late 1590s, and were published in book form in 1609. The first attempt to collect a larger range of Shakespeare’s lyric verse did not occur until the 1640 Poems was issued, nearly a quarter-century after the poet’s death. This unauthorized edition, printed in the small octavo “pocket” format characteristic of the times, was published by John Benson, a bookseller specializing in broadside ballads, popular literature, and music. This Octavo Edition reproduces one of the fewer than fifty surviving copies.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
5 9/16 x 3 9/16 inches (141 x 91 mm)
Nearly all the best-known and most enduring of Shakespeare’s poems, the 154 sonnets, were written in the first decade of his theatrical career. These compellingly personal works were circulated in handwritten copies among their author’s circle of acquaintances in the mid-to-late 1590s, and were published in book form in 1609. The first attempt to collect a larger range of Shakespeare’s lyric verse did not occur until the 1640 Poems was issued, nearly a quarter-century after the poet’s death. This unauthorized edition, printed in the small octavo “pocket” format characteristic of the times, was published by John Benson, a bookseller specializing in broadside ballads, popular literature, and music. This Octavo Edition reproduces one of the fewer than fifty surviving copies.
The original book imaged for this digital edition:
5 9/16 x 3 9/16 inches (141 x 91 mm)
Poetic Picaroon
Despite our enormous familiarity with Shakespeare’s works, John Benson’s 1640 edition of Shakespeare’s Poems shows just how difficult it is to know who and what Shakespeare is. Arguably the most outrageous of several pirated editions of Shakespeare’s poems, Benson’s text copies the famous portrait from the First Folio, omits sonnets, changes their order and format, and includes poems known to be by other authors of the period.
Despite our enormous familiarity with Shakespeare’s works, John Benson’s 1640 edition of Shakespeare’s Poems shows just how difficult it is to know who and what Shakespeare is. Arguably the most outrageous of several pirated editions of Shakespeare’s poems, Benson’s text copies the famous portrait from the First Folio, omits sonnets, changes their order and format, and includes poems known to be by other authors of the period.
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