Following on from Roz’s blog yesterdat about the recent acquisition of a Tibor Reich tapestry for the museum collection, this post looks at a newly published book that Penguin Books have kindly donated a copy to our library collection. Shakespeare’s Restless World, by British Museum Director, Neil MacGregor, looks at the 20 objects and themes explored in his radio series of the same name earlier this year. In this podcast, Neil MacGregor talks about some of the objects that feature and what they tell us about Shakespeare’s world. (If you have trouble playing this, click here.)
Sir Francis Drake’s medal dated c. 1590 (The British Museum)
The first object in the series is Sir Francis Drake’s circumnavigation medal, which is currently on loan to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust and very excitingly can be seen as part of the Shakespeare’s Stories exhibition here at the Shakespeare Centre in Stratford-upon-Avon.
It has been really exciting to see all the focus on Shakespeare during what has been an important year for Britain. This is the second series of this kind that Neil MacGregor and the British Museum have produced, following on from the hugely successful A History of the World in 100 Objects. Interestingly that series had already inspired our own journey through the everyday material culture that made up the world around Shakespeare, here on our Finding Shakespeare blog. Shakespeare’s World in 100 Objects started in December 2010, with contributions from PhD students at the University of Birmingham. This series is still ongoing with up to weekly posts  and this Monday saw its 59th object – a beautiful 16th century sweetbag from the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust collections.
A ‘taster’ of Shakespeare’s Restless World is available on the Penguin website here. And if you are passing through Stratford-upon-Avon you can come and see our own copy in the Reading Room.
“Shakespeare’s Restless World uncovers the extraordinary stories behind twenty objects to re-create Shakespeare’s world and the minds of his audiences. The objects range from the rich (such as the hoard of gold coins that make up the Salcombe treasure) to the very humble, like a worker’s woollen cap. Each of them allows MacGregor to explore one of the themes which defines the Shakespearean age – globalization, reformation, plague, Islam, magic and many others.” Penguin Books 2012.