The Bard, first and foremost

“To pore upon a book.”

-- Love’s Labour’s Lost, I:1

This past Friday was the 440th anniversary of the birth of William

Shakespeare.

Or, if you will, the 388th anniversary of the death of William

Shakespeare, since tradition has it that he departed the world of

Elizabethan England on April 23, 52 years to the day after he entered

it. That he did so in the quaint Tudor market town of

Stratford-on-Avon is remarkable given the life that he led in between

amid the boisterous, dangerous, exciting streets of the Renaissance

city of London.

More published and written about worldwide than any other author

or subject except the Bible, there seems to be no end of books about

Shakespeare. He even has his own Dewey Decimal Number -- 822.33!

There are books about him, books about how he was not he but someone

else, books about his education and books about his use and invention

of the English language. There are books about the lost years (the

time between leaving Stratford and “Henry the VI, Parts 2 and 3.”)

There are books by military men proving he was in the army and books

by navy men who prove he must have been at sea. There are books

claiming he was a teacher, an actor, a printer and a poacher. In the

end, though, we have the plays, and even the most hastily written of

them is more poetic and more insightful of the human condition than

the best of most others.

There have been some wonderful new 21st century books about the

Bard published in the last few years that make use of some new

discoveries and information. Chief among them is Michael Wood’s

“Shakespeare,” written by the British archeologist who has given us

those captivating television shows about ancient worlds. The

television version of this book was recently on PBS. Since the series

won’t be available to the library until next year, you will have to

take a look at the richly illustrated and highly informative book

that details Shakespeare’s life and the time in which he lived.

Another widely acclaimed recent book is Stanley W. Wells’

“Shakespeare: For All Time.” One of the most published Shakespearean

scholars, Wells has written both a biography of Shakespeare and a

biography of the plays, if you will, for he continues after the death

of the playwright and follows the life of the plays in production up

to the present day.

Another take on the afterlife of the great poet is the scrumptious

“Shakespeare in Art” compiled by Jane Martineau. It is a compendium

of paintings and illustrations of Shakespeare, the man, and the

characters in his plays who have captured the imagination of artists

through the years. Interestingly, it also includes outstanding stage

designs for the plays.

And lest we forget the plays themselves, the library has numerous

copies of all 37 of them. If that is not enough, the library also has

criticisms and explications and concordances. If that is not enough,

the library has them read on audiotape and acted on videotape and

DVD. And if that is still not enough, there are always the Cliffs

Notes!

* CHECK IT OUT is written by the staff of the Newport Beach Public

Library. This week’s column is by Sara Barnicle. All titles may be

reserved from home or office computers by accessing the catalog at

www.newportbeachlibrary.org. For more information on the Central

Library of any of the branch locations, please contact the Newport

Beach Public Library at (949) 717-3800, option 2.