New York Times Celebrates Shakespeare
Group 4: Descriptive Account of New York Times tercentenary special edition (PR2923 1916 .N4 MAP)
We are exploring a newspaper from 100 years ago published by the New York Times, dedicated to celebrating the tercentenary of Shakespeare. This tercentenary celebration covered a series of newspapers published by The Times from February 20th 1916 through to April 23rd 1916, and the paper we have here is the first one in this line. We know that by nature of being a newspaper this item was intended for the general public, however we do not know who was in possession of this exact copy before it reached here in Louisiana. It was more preserved for content rather than being a particularly special item.
The pages of this newspaper are thin, fragile, and faded in color, with torn edges and a glossy feel to them (as if it has a thin wax covering). The images, featuring scenes from a number of Shakespeare plays, are much larger than modern day news articles. The paper also presents some criticisms of Shakespeare’s work, as well as comments from poets, essayists, teachers, critics, editors, actors and other people who have dedicated their professional careers to William Shakespeare.
The paper does a great deal to mention how and why Shakespeare is still relevant. Some of the articles featured in this paper range from “Shakespeare’s Fame Still “In Its Great Morning”” which speaks about his relevance even in February 1916 (the time this paper was published), to “The Man Himself: Being a Character Sketch” in which John Corbin discussed how Shakespeare was likable.
Group 4 Section 2
Critical Paratext
Group 4 is creatively interpreting the “New York Times’ issue celebration Shakespeare’s Tercentenary NTY 1916” to be represented by a Facebook page, containing different posts and pictures that would illustrate some of the articles in our assigned Shakespearian item. This Facebook page, celebrating 300 years of Shakespeare, will be a modern way to honor the greatest and most notable playwright of all time, William Shakespeare. We felt that a Facebook page was the most appropriate way to represent the Shakespearian item we were assigned, the “New York Times’ issue celebration Shakespeare’s Tercentenary NYT 1916,” because this social media site is able to celebrate and or talk about a person in a modern way, rather than just in the newspaper. Although the newspaper is a great source of information, the Facebook page will really allow the viewer to experience a modern take on the celebration of William Shakespeare that is understandable to pretty much every audience. We would like the page to include some pictures of the included Shakespearian plays in the issue, opinion related posts given by the writers of some of the articles within the “New York Time’s” print, and comments on the posts that can agree or disagree with the author. Through Facebook, we will be able to provide a single page, which will offer entertainment, a source of communication, and the sharing of information to celebrate 300 years of William Shakespeare. Another reason, as a group, we decided to creatively interpret the “New York Time’s” issue as a Facebook page was to be able to draw in as many readers as possible. Today, so many people are on the Internet, while print is unfortunately becoming less and less prominent. A Facebook page would be the best way to accumulate as many readers as possible to honor William Shakespeare, while also having a very diverse audience through the use of the Internet!
