The Lodger Shakespeare: His Life on Silver Street - Hardcover

Nicholl, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670018503 ISBN 13: 9780670018505

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2008

Synopsis

A historical account of Shakespeare's participation in an 1612 court case involving an unpaid marriage dowry offers insight into the bard's obscure private life, in a volume that draws on a wide variety of sources to piece together the environment in which such plays as Othello, Measure for Measure, and King Lear were written. 30,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author:

Charles Nicholl is an internationally acclaimed author, writing biographies including Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind as well as books on history and travel. His book The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe won the James Tait Black Prize for Biography and the Crime WritersÂ’ Association Gold Dagger Award for nonfiction. Somebody Else: Arthur Rimbaud in Africa was awarded the Hawthornden Prize.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.:

Table of Contents

 

penguin books

Title Page

Copyright Page

Dedication

List of Illustrations

Preface

 

PART ONE - ‘One Mr Shakespeare’

Chapter 1 - The deposition

Chapter 2 - Turning forty

Chapter 3 - Sugar and gall

Chapter 4 - Shakespeare in London

 

PART TWO - Silver Street

Chapter 5 - The house on the corner

Chapter 6 - The neighbourhood

Chapter 7 - ‘Houshould stuffe’

Chapter 8 - The chamber

 

PART THREE - The Mountjoys

Chapter 9 - Early years

Chapter 10 - St Martin le Grand

Chapter 11 - Success and danger

Chapter 12 - Dr Forman’s casebook

Chapter 13 - The me’nage

 

PART FOUR - Tiremaking

Chapter 14 - Tires and wigs

Chapter 15 - The ‘tire-valiant’

Chapter 16 - In the workshop

Chapter 17 - The underpropper

 

PART FIVE - Among Strangers

Chapter 18 - Blackfriars and Navarre

Chapter 19 - Shakespeare’s aliens

Chapter 20 - Dark ladies

 

PART SIX - Sex & the City

Chapter 21 - Enter George Wilkins

Chapter 22 - The Miseries

Chapter 23 - Prostitutes and players

Chapter 24 - Customer satisfaction

Chapter 25 - To Brainforde

Chapter 26 - ‘At his game’

 

PART SEVEN - Making Sure

Chapter 27 - A handfasting

Chapter 28 - ‘They have married me!’

Chapter 29 - Losing a daughter

 

Epilogue

Appendix: - The Belott-Mountjoy Papers

Notes

Sources

Index

FOR MORE FROM CHARLES NICHOLL, LOOK FOR THE

penguin books

THE LODGER SHAKESPEARE

Charles Nicholl is a historian, biographer, and travel writer. His books include The Reckoning (winner of the James Tait Black Prize for biography and the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award for nonfiction), A Cup of News: The Life of Thomas Nashe, Shakespeare and His Contemporaries (National Portrait Gallery Insights series), and Somebody Else: Arthur Rimbaud in Africa (winner of the Hawthornden Prize). His most recent book was the acclaimed biography Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind, which has been published in seventeen languages.

Praise for The Lodger Shakespeare

“Mr. Nicholl’s efforts [bear] delicious fruit. The Lodger Shakespeare ... opens a window onto Jacobean London and the swirl of sights and sensations that surrounded Shakespeare and inevitably found their way into his plays. From a mere handful of dry facts embedded in an obscure lawsuit, Mr. Nicholl brings forth a gaudy, tumultuous, richly imagined world.”—William Grimes, The New York Times

 

“[An] entertaining biographical study of Shakespeare. . . . Through imaginative use of primary source material, [Nicholl] culls the ‘secret flavours of particularity’ that distinguished a corner of London at the turn of the seventeenth century. . . . With lively readings of the plays and a nuanced portrait of their author, he capably captures ‘the simmering randiness of the age.’”—The New Yorker

“The Lodger Shakespeare enhances our sense of a great dramatist’s work and world by looking at the people around him. [Nicholl’s] prose moves steadily along, eschews gush, jargon and digression, and generally inspires confidence. This is the voice of a man who knows his stuff. A pro.”

—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

 

“Nicholl’s narrative technique is one of exhaustive research and elegant prose; [his] take is quietly pioneering: a new lens and an unaired episode. But beyond a claim to academic innovation, The Lodger Shakespeare is a brave and spotless statement on how we view W.S., and the subject of those we deem ‘great.’”—Dan Fall, The Brooklyn Rail

“Nicholl takes us into Shakespeare’s life on Silver Street, the squalid underworld of medieval London. Taverns that double as brothels, cantankerous pimps, ambitious prostitutes, famed quacks—it’s all here. . . . It is thrilling, and also revealing, to brush through Charles Nicholl’s expert reconstruction of the one time that the Bard’s words were actually reported.”—Vikram Johri, St. Petersburg Times

William Shakespeare with underpropper (see Chapter 17)

penguin books
Published by the Penguin Group
Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto,
Ontario, Canada M4P 2Y3 (a division of Pearson Penguin Canada Inc.)
Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd)
Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell,
Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd)
Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre,
Panchsheel Park, New Delhi - 110 017, India
Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632,
New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd)
Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue,
Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa

 

Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices:
80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

First published in Great Britain as The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street
by Allen Lane, a division of Penguin Books Ltd 2007
First published in the United States of America by Viking Penguin,
a member of Penguin Group (USA) Inc. 2008
Published in Penguin Books (UK) 2008
Published in Penguin Books (USA) 2008

 

Copyright © Charles Nicholl, 2007

All rights reserved

eISBN : 978-1-101-01125-6

1. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616. 2. Dramatists, English—Early modern, 1500-1700—
Biography. 3. Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616—Homes and haunts—England—London.
4. Cripplegate (London, England)—Social life and customs. I. Title.
PR2907.N53 2008
822.3’3—dc22
[B]
2007042553

 

 

The scanning, uploading and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means
without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Please purchase only
authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy
of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

In memory of
Jan Farrell
and
Mary Ensor

‘Every contact leaves traces . . .’
Edmond Locard, Manuel de Technique Policière, 1923

List of Illustrations

Frontispiece. Engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout (second state). Title-page illustration from Mr William Shakepeares Comedies, Histories & Tragedies [the First Folio], 1623.

Map. The ‘Agas’ map of London, c. 1561. Copyright © Guildhall Library, London.

1. Shakespeare’s deposition at the Court of Requests, 11 May 1612 (PRO REQ 4/1/4). Copyright © The National Archives.

2. Jacobean law-court. Seventeenth-century woodcut reproduced in The Roxburghe Ballads, ed. William Chappell and J. W. Ebsworth (The Ballad Society, 1871-91).

3. Witness-list for the Belott-Mountjoy suit, May 1612 (PRO REQ 1/199). Copyright © The National Archives.

4. Signatures of Daniel Nicholas, William Eaton, Noel Mountjoy and Humphrey Fludd, May-June 1612 (PRO REQ 4/1/4). Copyright © The National Archives.

5. The Wallaces at the Record Office, c. 1909. Papers of Charles William Wallace, Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif. (Box 15 B 37).

6. Detail from the ‘Agas’ map, c. 1561. Copyright © Guildhall Library, London.

7. The Coopers’ Arms, Silver Street, c. 1910. From Harper’s Monthly Magazine, Vol. 120, March 1910. Photo: Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif.

8. St Giles, Cripplegate, after the bombs, 1941. Pen, ink and wash drawing by Dennis Flanders. Guildhall Library Print Room, Flanders Collection (258/GIL Q4768985). Copyright © Estate of the artist.

9. Plaque on the site of St Olave’s, Silver Street. Photo: the author.

10. John Banister at Barber-Surgeons’ Hall, 1580. Glasgow University Library (Hunter MS 364 Top v 14, fol. 59). Photo: The Bridgeman Art Library.

11. Title-page illustration from Thomas Dekker, Dekker his Dreame (1620).

12. Le Cousturier by Jean LeClerc, c. 1600. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris. Photo: Archives Charmet/The Bridgeman Art Library.

13. Extract from the subsidy roll for Aldersgate ward, 1582 (PRO E179/251/16, fol. 24). Copyright © The National Archives.

14. ‘Mrs Monjoyes childe’. Burial register of St Olave’s, Silver Street, 27 February 1596. Guildhall Library (MS 6534, fol. 106). Copyright © Guildhall Library, London.

15. Marie Mountjoy visits Simon Forman, 22 November 1597 (Bodleian, Ashmole MS 226, fol. 254v). Copyright © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

16. Engraved portrait of Simon Forman, eighteenth century. Photo: Smithsonian Institution Library, Washington DC.

17. Henry Wood visits Forman, 20 March 1598 (Bodleian, Ashmole MS 195, fol. 15V). Copyright © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

18. Marie Mountjoy and ‘Madam Kitson’ in Forman’s casebook, c. January 1598 (Bodleian, Ashmole MS 226, fol. 310V). Copyright © Bodleian Library, University of Oxford.

19. A woman visiting an astrologer. Seventeenth-century woodcut reproduced in The Roxburghe Ballads, ed. William Chappell and J. W. Ebsworth (The Ballad Society, 1871-91).

20. An unknown woman in a ballet costume, c. 1580, French school (Chaˆteaux de Versailles et de Trianon). Copyright © Photo RMN-Franck Raux.

21. A lady (perhaps Lucy Harington, Countess of Bedford) costumed as a ‘Power of Juno’, attributed to John de Critz the elder, c. 1606. Woburn Abbey. By kind permission of His Grace the Duke of Bedford and the Trustees of the Bedford Estates.

22. A scene from Titus Andronicus by Henry Peacham, c. 1594. Longleat House, Warminster, Wilts (Portland Papers 1, fol. 159V). By kind permission of the Marquess of Bath.

23. Extract from Queen Anne’s household accounts, 1604-5 (PRO SC 6/JAS1/1646, fol. 29r). Copyright © The National Archives.

24. Detail from a portrait of Queen Anne by Marcus Gheeraerts the younger, c. 1605-10. Woburn Abbey. By kind permission of His Grace the Duke of Bedford and the Trustees of the Bedford Estates.

25. Signature of George Wilkins, 19 June 1612 (PRO REQ 4/1/4). Copyright © The National Archives.

26. Title-page of George Wilkins, Miseries of Inforst Mariage, 1607.

27. Customers eating in a brothel. Seventeenth-century woodcut reproduced in The Roxburghe Ballads, ed. William Chappell and J. W. Ebsworth (The Ballad Society, 1871-91).

28. Frontispiece to Nicholas Goodman, Holland’s Leaguer, 1632.

29. Detail from an allegorical scene showing Virtue confronting Vice by Isaac Oliver, c. 1590-95. Statens Museum for Kunst, Copenhagen.

30. A wherry on the Thames near London Bridge, from the ‘Album Amicorum’ of Michael van Meer, 1614. Edinburgh University Library (Laing MS III 283, fol. 408v).

31. The Three Pigeons, Brentford. Detail from A View of the Old Market House, engraving by G. F. Bragg, 1849. Photo: Chiswick Public Library, Hounslow Local Studies Centre.

32. A handfasting. Detail from Supper with Betrothal by Gerrit van Honthorst, c. 1625. Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence. Photo: Scala, Florence.

33. Wedding of Stephen Belott and Mary Mountjoy. Marriage register of St Olave’s, Silver Street, 19 November 1604. Guildhall Library (MS 6534, fol. 7v). Copyright © Guildhall Library, London.

34. Burial of Marie Mountjoy. Burial register of St Olave’s, Silver Street, 30 October 1606. Guildhall Library (MS 6534, fol. 110). Copyright © Guildhall Library, London.

35. Will of Christopher Mountjoy, 26 January 1620. Peculiar Court of the Dean & Chapter of St Paul’s, Registrum Testamentorum 1608-33. Guildhall Library (MS 25626/4, fol. 179). Copyright © Guildhall Library, London.

36. Burial of Christopher Mountjoy. Burial register of St Giles, Cripplegate, 29 March 1620. Guildhall Library (MS 6419/2, unfoliated). Copyright © Guildhall Library, London.

Preface

This book looks into some aspects of Shakespeare’s life in London over a couple of years in the early seventeenth century. Larger issues of interpretation belong to the book itself. I will confine this preface to a few procedural points and some hearty thanks.

Many Jacobean documents use the ‘old style’ year, which ran from 25 March (‘Lady Day’). This is useful to know when reading them - it means that an event dated 1 January 1605 took place a month after an event dated 1 December 1605 - but is liable to cause confusion when quoting them. Where necessary I have amended to modern style (in the example cited I would give the first date as 1 January 1606).

On the matter of original spellings the demands of authenticity and readability pull in opposite directions. To modernize everything is to lose a certain richness - an orthographic brogue intrinsic to the period. On the other hand, quoting everything in archaic spelling can make things hard going for the reader. Inconsistency has seemed a lesser evil than either of these. I have tended to quote documents, letters, diaries and so on in original spelling, and literary texts in modern form.

Sums of money mentioned in the text cannot be correlated precisely with modern values. Based on the retail price index, it is estimated that £1 in 1604 had a purchasing power equivalent to about £144 in 2006. However, this is not always helpful as an overall conversion factor. In 1604 you could lease a large London town-house for £20 per annum, buy an unbound copy of Hamlet for sixpence, and drink a pint of beer for a halfpenny. A printer paid £2 (‘forty shillings and an odd pottle of wine’) for a pamphlet, and the author might get the same again for a slavish dedication to ‘my Lord What-call-ye-him’. Wages were low: a labourer might earn 5 shillings a week. There are too many anomalies to make it very meaningful, but as a rough rule of thumb I use an exchange rate of 1:200. That is, an early Jacobean pound was worth about £200 today, a shilling (1S) about £10, and a penny (1d) something under £1.

My research on this book has been greatly assisted by staff at the National Archives, British Library, Guildhall Library, London Library, Victoria and Albert Museum, French Protestant Church and Ealing Local History Centre in London, the Bodleian Library in Oxford, and the Bibliothèque Municipale in Amiens. I am particularly grateful to James Travers for his help in tracking down some elusive documents; to Susan North and Jenny Tiramani for advice on early Jacobean costume; and to Matt Steggle, Colin Burrow, Christiane Gould-Krieger, Elsie Hart, Kat Underwood, Thomas Dumont and the late Eric Sams for help and expertise generously gi...

About this edition

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0670018503
• ISBN 13: 9780670018505
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 400