{"id":18789,"date":"2025-09-17T07:00:26","date_gmt":"2025-09-17T07:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/?p=18789"},"modified":"2025-09-17T12:52:37","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T12:52:37","slug":"vftv-shakespeare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/2025\/09\/17\/vftv-shakespeare\/","title":{"rendered":"A View from the Vault: Shakespeare at Blackfriars"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Arline Wilson, Special Collections Librarian<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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Step into the candle-lit world of early 17th-century London with <\/span>The Two Noble Kinsmen<\/span><\/i> (1634), a rare first edition held in the University of Delaware\u2019s Special Collections. Credited to William Shakespeare and John Fletcher, this late Jacobean drama was performed \u201cat the Blackfriers by the King\u2019s Maiesties servants, with great applause,\u201d as the title page proudly proclaims. The Blackfriars Theatre\u2014once a Dominican monastery\u2014was transformed into an exclusive indoor playhouse for Shakespeare\u2019s own company, the King\u2019s Men. Unlike the open-air Globe, Blackfriars offered winter performances, intricate music and intimate staging for a discerning audience.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Open<\/p>\n

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The play itself adapts Chaucer\u2019s <\/span>Knight\u2019s Tale<\/span><\/i>, following two cousins\u2014Palamon and Arcite\u2014whose sworn brotherhood collapses when both fall in love with the same woman, Emilia. Blending courtly romance, tragic rivalry and moments of dark comedy, <\/span>The Two Noble Kinsmen<\/span><\/i> explores loyalty, desire and the thin line between love and violence. Widely considered Shakespeare\u2019s final dramatic work, it reveals a mature playwright experimenting with collaboration and with the indoor theater\u2019s subtle acoustics and effects.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Title<\/p>\n

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This slim quarto preserves not only a gripping story of honor and passion, but also a vivid glimpse of London\u2019s vibrant performance culture\u2014where a dissolved monastery became a royal stage and the written word keeps the applause alive four centuries later. Come see this remarkable volume and experience a tangible connection to Shakespeare\u2019s world.<\/span><\/p>\n

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\"Open<\/p>\n

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UDaily Article<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Online Exhibition Link<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cA View from the Vault\u201d showcases some of the unique, notable or rare items that are a part of the Special Collections and Museums holdings at the University of Delaware. Each month, we highlight a different work and share interesting facts or intriguing histories about it. If you are interested in seeing any of the materials featured in person or want to learn more about any work showcased in the series, please contact Special Collections and Museums at <\/span>AskSpec<\/span><\/a> or <\/span>AskMuseums<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Arline Wilson, Special Collections Librarian   Step into the candle-lit world of early 17th-century London with The Two Noble Kinsmen (1634), a rare first edition held in the University of Delaware\u2019s Special Collections. Credited to William Shakespeare and John …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":180,"featured_media":18792,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[17,4,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18789","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-museums","category-news","category-special"],"acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-18 06:15:19","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18789"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/180"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18789"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18789\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18800,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18789\/revisions\/18800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18789"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18789"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/library.udel.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18789"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}