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Be Inspired: Shakespeare and Me

James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps: Antiquarian and scholar

James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps (1820-1889) was a scholar and book collector who produced a pioneering biography of Shakespeare as well as a complete edition of his plays. To support his Shakespearian study, he had an unusual way of collecting his research. He cut up rare and early printed books and glued the scraps into a series of notebooks. There are about 100 of these; all of them contain extracts from early printed books - even First Folios of Shakespeare's plays. He’s said to have destroyed 800 books and made 36,000 scraps! 

While he gained a reputation for strange collecting habits, he also generously donated some very rare, early printed works to the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, along with his collection of research notebooks.

 

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Page from a notebook compiled by James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps

1853 - 1865

This scrapbook focusses on Shakespeare's play 'The Tempest'.

 

See below for an image of Halliwell-Phillipps himself



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A portrait of James Orchard Halliwell-Phillipps

1860