Records of Early English Drama: Editorial Support

FAIN: RQ-50382-09

University of Puget Sound (Tacoma, WA 98416-5000)
Peter H. Greenfield (Project Director: November 2008 to March 2012)

This project will edit and prepare for the publication of the London Inns of Court and Civil London to 1558 in the Records of Early English Drama.

University of Puget Sound requests NEH funding to support the Records of Early English Drama (REED) project's editorial office in editing and processing for publication two major collections of dramatic records--the London Inns of Court and Civic London to 1558--that significantly advance our understanding of medieval and early modern English drama. The Inns of Court collection provides evidence of dramatic activity ranging from performances of Shakespeare plays to entertainments mounted by the lawyers themselves. The Civic London to 1558 collection documents the dramatic activities of London's civic government and of its guilds and corporations, from private performances of plays to elaborate pageantry in the streets of the city. REED's editorial staff ensures the completeness and accuracy of the published collections and editorial apparatus, and provides essential support to online dissemination of results through the Patrons and Performances website.

Media Coverage

"Reading the riot acts and scenes of London's violent theatrical past." (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Matthew Reisz
Publication: Times Higher Education
Date: 3/2/2011
Abstract: Announcement of EMLoT website with a few examples.
URL: http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?storyCode=415326§ioncode=26

"Hell-raising antics of Shakespearean actors revealed." (Media Coverage)
Publication: The Telegraph
Date: 2/9/2011
Abstract: Announcement of website with examples.
URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-news/8303242/Hellraising-antics-of-Shakespearean-actors-revealed.html

"Early Modern London Theatres Database Now Online." (Review)
Author(s): Peter Kirwan
Publication: The Shakespeare Apocrypha
Date: 2/2/2011
Abstract: Blog announcement and review of EMLoT website.
URL: http://blogs.warwick.ac.uk/apocrypha/entry/early_modern_london/

"Boy-Bard Actors of Long Ago." (Media Coverage)
Publication: Daily Express
Date: 2/5/2011
Abstract: Article announcing launch of EMLoT website.
URL: http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/227214/Bard-boy-actors-of-long-ago

"Beyond the Bard." (Media Coverage)
Publication: British Academy News
Date: 2/2/2011
Abstract: Announcement of launching of EMLoT, on British Academy's website.
URL: http://www.britac.ac.uk/news/news.cfm/newsid/456

"Fascinating Tales of London's Early Theatres." (Media Coverage)
Publication: artsHub
Date: 2/9/2011
Abstract: Announcement/description of new website
URL: http://www.artshub.co.uk/uk/news-article/news/arts/fascinating-tales-of-londons-early-theatres-183247

"1642 – and EMLoT – Early Modern London Theatres." (Media Coverage)
Publication: IHR Digital
Date: 4/6/2011
Abstract: Description of new website.
URL: http://ihr-history.blogspot.com/2011/03/1642-and-emlot-early-modern-london.html

Sunday Feature: Myths and Mystery Cycles (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Tom Alban (producer)
Publication: BBC Radio 3
Date: 9/12/2010
Abstract: Radio program (45 min.) incl. excerpts of interviews with REED editors and interested scholars. The Records of Early English Drama is now one of the biggest research projects ever to have taken place in the study of English literature. It's brief is to 'establish the broad context from which the great drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries grew'. But rather than look again at the extant texts and folios of the mystery plays and pageants of the early medieval period, a small army of REED (Records of Early English Drama) scholars, marshalled from their HQ at the University of Toronto, are combing through church and court records for any reference to plays, music, pageant and performance that they can find.
URL: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00tp8mt

Associated Products

Records of Early English Drama: Lincolnshire (Book)
Title: Records of Early English Drama: Lincolnshire
Editor: James Stokes
Abstract: Lincolnshire presents an exhaustive collection of primary archival materials related to drama, music, custom, and ceremony in Lincolnshire county from 1236-1642.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.archive.org/details/lincolnshire01stok
Primary URL Description: Internet Archive edition.
Secondary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/lincolnshire/oclc/277197448&referer=brief_results
Secondary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 978-0-7123-09

Records of Early English Drama: Inns of Court (Book)
Title: Records of Early English Drama: Inns of Court
Editor: John R. Elliott
Editor: Alan H. Nelson
Abstract: The records of dramatic performances at the Inns of Court, drawn from a variety of manuscript and printed sources, reveal a rich history of revels, plays, masques and secular music.
Year: 2010
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/inns-of-court/oclc/641506570&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing.
Publisher: Boydell and Brewer
Type: Scholarly Edition
ISBN: 978-1-8438-42

REED: Lancashire including Isle of Man Addenda (Web Resource)
Title: REED: Lancashire including Isle of Man Addenda
Author: eds. Elizabeth Baldwin, David George and David Mills
Abstract: Addenda to the Lancashire collection (1991)edited by David George, in pdf format on the REED Online website.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.reed.utoronto.ca/lancsadd.pdf
Primary URL Description: Full-text edition of the addenda in pdf format.

Patrons and Performances Web Site (Web Resource)
Title: Patrons and Performances Web Site
Author: Jason Boyd
Author: Sally-Beth MacLean
Author: Alan Somerset
Abstract: The REED Patrons and Performances Web Site is designed to include a wide range of data about professional performers on tour in the provinces – their patrons, the performance venues they used and the routes they took across the kingdom. Grant period saw the Patrons, Events and Troupes data from Kent: Diocese of Canterbury, Lincolnshire and Inns of Court volumes added to the database. Also added was information on performance venues from those collections, as well as some for Dorset, Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire as well as a handful of Shropshire venues.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://link.library.utoronto.ca/reed/
Primary URL Description: Gateway page to the Patrons and Performances database.

Early Modern London Theatres (Web Resource)
Title: Early Modern London Theatres
Author: English Dept, University of Southampton
Author: Records of Early English Drama
Author: Centre for Computing in the Humanities, King's College, London
Abstract: EMLoT lets you see what direct use has been made, over the last four centuries, of pre-1642 documents related to professional performance in purpose-built theatres and other permanent structures in the London area. It is not a comprehensive collection of those pre-1642 documents; rather, it charts the copies (or ‘transcriptions’) which were subsequently made of them. It thus gives you access to the varied and long ‘after-life’ of those documents. It tells you who used them, and when, and where you can find evidence of that use. It also gives you some access to what was used, because it includes a brief account (or ‘abstract’) of the transcription’s contents, together with a reference to the location of the original document. (Note: EmLoT is not directly funded by NEH, but is closely associated with the work of the REED project.)
Year: 2011
Primary URL: http://www.emlot.kcl.ac.uk/
Primary URL Description: Gateway page for the Early Modern London Theatres database.

"Touring" (Book Section)
Title: "Touring"
Author: Peter H Greenfield
Editor: Richard Dutton
Abstract: The records and practices of touring companies of actors in early modern England, based on the author's research for the Records of Early English Drama project, and describing patterns discovered through the use of the Patrons and Performances database.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/oxford-handbook-of-early-modern-theatre/oclc/251213252&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Book Title: The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theatre

"The Universities and the Inns of Court" (Book Section)
Title: "The Universities and the Inns of Court"
Author: Alan H Nelson
Abstract: Overview of dramatic activities of the colleges at Oxford and Cambridge, and the four Inns of Court in London, including plays and other performances put on by the students, and visits of professional entertainers. Based on the author's research for three REED collections.
Year: 2009
Primary URL: http://www.worldcat.org/title/oxford-handbook-of-early-modern-theatre/oclc/251213252&referer=brief_results
Primary URL Description: WorldCat listing
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Book Title: The Oxford Handbook of Early Modern Theatre

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