Shakespeare—he’s everywhere

EDITORS: Graphics available on request.

ANN ARBOR—Just in time for the Royal Shakespeare Company‘s residency at the University of Michigan, the University’s Special Collections Library has completed cataloging its Shakespeare Pamphlet Collection, also known as the Crosby Shakespeare Collectanea. More than 270 records describe the holdings of the purchase from the late Joseph Crosby of Zanesville, Ohio, a prominent Shakespearian scholar of the 19th century.

This collection features scholarly works by noted Shakespearian authorities, many in the form of offprint copies of journal articles that were routinely sent to Crosby. Works by American scholars are found along with those of English authorities. Crosby also corresponded with many German academics. While he was not attached to any institution, Crosby became renowned for his interest in and collecting of things Shakespeare. The U-M collection was purchased by Isaac Newton Demmon (1842-1920), once a professor of English at U-M.

Particularly well represented are materials relating to the publication of Collier’s “discovery” of a copy of the 1632 Second Folio (with extensive marginal corrections to the text in what purported to be a contemporary hand), and its eventual exposure as a forgery.

More on this forgery and the fascinating career of Collier are available at www.lib.udel.edu/ud/spec/exhibits/forgery/collier.htm.

As a voracious collector, Crosby’s collection is a veritable cornucopia of materials, some only tangentially touching on Shakespeare, but all offering glimpses into late-Victorian culture, both high and popular. Among the works is a character study of the nurse’s deceased husband in “Romeo and Juliet” and a work on whether Hamlet was insane. Phrenology, occultism and associational life are topics touched by the collection’s material. The collection also contains theatrical memorabilia including playbills, seating arrangements in music halls, portraits of stage stars of the 19th century and even greeting cards, all with a Shakespearian theme.

  Associational life, popular in the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, is illustrated by the large number of programs, newsletters, and dinner menus of amateur Shakespearian clubs both in the United States and England. The Mosaic Club of Jackson, Mich., was just one of many across the country.    

Crosby never found financial success in his lifetime. He once, along with his brother, owned a grocery store, and then tried his hand at selling insurance. But his success came in the love of Shakespeare and his collection of Shakespeare memorabilia. Needing to sell his collection to pay off debts, Crosby brokered with the U-M and the Folger Library.

No description of Crosby’s collection would be complete without a transcription of the title of the most unique item in the whole collection, says David Richtmyer, a senior associate librarian.

“Verdure from the precincts of the grave of William Shakspere the poet of England: ivy leaves from the church walls that cover his grave & daisies, elm leaves, grasses & meadowsweet from his own Ophelia’s Avon, this 22nd of July 1861.”

“The ivy is still in good condition,” Richtmyer says, “but the daisies have seen better days.”

For more information about this collection, call (734) 936-3814 or enter the Library’s MIRLYN online catalogue and use the keyword “Shakespeare Collectanea.”