Antique Engraving Shakespeare's Birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon, After R. Greene, Circa 1800
Antique Engraving Shakespeare's Birthplace Stratford-upon-Avon, After R. Greene, Circa 1800
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This engraving records the first published image of William Shakespeare's birthplace on Henley Street, Stratford-upon-Avon, drawn by Richard Greene in 1762 and reproduced widely in the decades following its debut in the Gentleman's Magazine in July 1769. Greene was a Lichfield antiquary, surgeon, and collector whose brother was headmaster of Stratford's grammar school, giving him direct ties to the town and its Shakespeare heritage. His drawing was made seven years before publication, and when it finally appeared in print, it was as advance publicity for David Garrick's famous Stratford Jubilee of 1769, the event that launched Shakespeare pilgrimage as a serious cultural practice. What makes the image historically compelling is that Greene did not draw the house as it actually stood. The real birthplace was part of a continuous row of buildings on Henley Street. Greene depicted it as an isolated, gabled monument set apart in open ground, giving Shakespeare the birthplace the legend demanded rather than the modest one the record shows. This impression, dated to circa 1800, is from the generation of reproductions that circulated as the Shakespeare pilgrimage industry took hold. The British Museum holds an impression of this same composition catalogued as after R. Greene, circa 1800.
The print is in good antique condition overall. The paper shows even, warm toning consistent with age, stable and without tears or losses visible in the image area. The engraved lines read clearly with good contrast throughout. The mat has aged to a warm tan with some browning toward the edges, consistent with long framing. No significant foxing is visible from examination of the available photographs. The frame is a later plain black, not original to the print and not a value element of the piece. The print has not been examined out of frame, so the full verso and any additional inscriptions or watermarks remain unconfirmed.
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