The Arkansaw traveler., 1885-10-03
4 shalespearean Home.

The London zimes of the 24th of Au- gust gives the following account of . visit of the members of the British Arcb9olog- ical congress to Hollingbury Copse, the house of the Shskespearean scholar I. o. Halliwell Phillips:
 "The Copse itself is most quaintly built. The main residence is on the plan of a farmhouse at Stratford. It is erected en- tirely of wood cased with galvanized iron and painted in imitation of the half-wood style of the Elizabethan period. The rooms being all on one floor are open to the roof. The corridors leading from one part of the building to another bear Shakespearean names, while in different parts of the house are quotations written, or rather painted, by friends of the owner, and selected from the works ot the great dramatist. Mir. Halliwell Phillips has been a most industrious collector. of Shakespearean lore. The collection of drawings and engravings is excelled only by that which is now at Stratford-on- Avon, and which was formed by MT. Phillips himself. Included in the collec. tion at the Copse are dozen or more of Fishers original drawings of the paint ings in the guild chapel taken at the time of their discovery in 1894, Some rare and interesting town plans and county maps form part ot the collection. There are views of Charlecote, the residence of Sir Thomas Lucy. MT. Halliwell Phillips has also among other interesting auto- graphs the very rare one of Sir Thomas Lucy, and pencil copy by Blight of the Poor Scarecrow's' effigy at Charlecote. as well as the signature of the earl of Southampton, the poets friend, written in 1903. The collection would not be csm- ple,e without portraits of the poet, and the most noticeable of them is an engrav- ing dated 1923. Among the numerous deeds shown was the original conveyance to Shakespeare of the house in Blackfriars which he purchased IoI3; it is quite per feet and in beautiful state of preserva- tion, and is the identical deed that was enrolled in chancery, having the original official endorsement. It was made Be- tween Henry Walker, citizen and min strell of London, and William Shakes. peare, of S,ratford- upon-Avon, in the county of Warwick, gentleman Also was shown the original deed transferring the legal state of the same house on the AOtu VI Suiudtr, IOl/-oJ III tIuSt, 10 IOI- low the directions of Shakespeare's will, subject only to the remaining term of a lease granted by the poet to one John Robinson. Copies of play-bills are also included in the collection. One relates to the perform ance of 'Trolius and Cres- sida,' said to be the first printed play bill. The collection is rich in copies of Shakes peare's plays and of those having allusion to them, including one of the first collec- tive editions of the poets dramatic works (Io23), which contains misprints that in- dicate the priority of the impressions. Among the greatest rarities of this rare collection was a quarto copy (I5o8) of A pleasant conceIted comedle called Loves Labor Lost as it was presented before Queen Elizabeth in the Christmas holidays of I59S This is the first publi- cation of any of Shakespeare's works in which his name appears as the author on the title-page, and only five other copies are known to exist. One bookcase is de- voted to the early quarto editions of the plays of Shakespeare published during the years from Iooo to 1855. and close to this interesting part of the collection was a square of glass, in the center of which is circle of lead enclosing the latters w. A. s and the figures I6I5, all tied to- gether in a true lovers knot. The letters are supposed to be the initials of William and Anne Shakespea are, the date being the year preceding the poets death."