The lodger Shakespeare
Subtitle: his life on Silver Street
By: Charles Nicholl
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2008
Place of publication: London
Language: eng
Number of pages: 377
ISBN-13: 9780143114628; 9780141023748
Copyright date: 2007
Subjects: Social life and customs; Homes and haunts; Biography; Homes; Early modern; Manners and customs; English Dramatists
Work titles: Lodger
Description: In 1612, Shakespeare gave evidence in a court case at Westminster-and it is the only occasion on which his actual spoken words were recorded. In The Lodger Shakespeare, Charles Nicholl applies a powerful biographical magnifying glass to this fascinating but little-known episode in the Bard's life. Drawing on evidence from a wide variety of sources, Nicholl creates a compellingly detailed account of the circumstances in which Shakespeare lived and worked amid the bustle of early seventeenth-century London. This elegant, often unexpected exploration presents a new and original look at Shakespeare as he was writing such masterpieces as Othello, Measure for Measure, and King Lear. The case also throws new light on the puzzling story of Shakespeare's collaboration with the hack author and violent brothel owner George Wilkins. In The Lodger Shakespeare we see the playwright in the daily context of a street in Jacobean London: one Mr. Shakespeare, lodging in the room upstairs. Nicholl is one of the great historical detectives of our time and in this atmospheric and exciting book he has created a considerable rarity something new and original about Shakespeare.
Notes: Originally published as The lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street by Allen Lane, a division of Penguin Books, 2007.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 308-362) and index.
Table of contents: title: pt. 1. One Mr Shakespeare. The deposition; title: Turning forty; title: Sugar and gall; title: Shakespeare in London; title: pt. 2. Silver Street. The house on the corner; title: The neighbourhood; title: 'Houshould stuffe'; title: The chamber; title: pt. 3. The Mountjoys. Early years; title: St Martin le Grand; title: Success and danger; title: Dr. Forman's casebook; title: The menage; title: pt. 4. Tiremaking. Tires and wigs; title: The 'tire-valiant'; title: In the workshop; title: The underpropper; title: pt. 5. Among strangers. Blackfriars and Navarre; title: Shakespeare's aliens; title: Dark ladies; title: pt. 6. Enter George Wilkins; title: The Misiries; title: Prostitutes and players; title: Customer satisfaction; title: To Brainforde; title: 'At his game'; title: pt. 7. Making sure. A handfasting; title: 'They have married me!'; title: Losing a daughter; title: Epilogue; title: Appendix: The Belott-Mountjoy papers.