Papers by Charles Nicholl
London Review of Books, 2015
Stephanos Efthymiadis, whose Hagiography in Byzantium: Literature, Social History and Cult appear... more Stephanos Efthymiadis, whose Hagiography in Byzantium: Literature, Social History and Cult appeared in 2011 (Ashgate), has headed up an international team of 28 experts to produce this unprecedented landmark in Byzantine studies. Written for both the specialist and graduate students, it will serve its readers well, with the usual caveat that a publication of this kind is out of date BOOK REVIEWS 835
London Review of Books, 2016
... A cup of news: The life of Thomas Nashe. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Nicholl, Charl... more ... A cup of news: The life of Thomas Nashe. Post a Comment. CONTRIBUTORS: Author: Nicholl, Charles. PUBLISHER: Routledge & Kegan Paul (London and Boston). SERIES TITLE: YEAR: 1984. PUB TYPE: Book (ISBN 0710095171 ). ... Quality. N/A, High. 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Low. Interest ...
History leaves traces of the people - Byron, Shakespeare, Rimbaud, Leonardo - living through it, ... more History leaves traces of the people - Byron, Shakespeare, Rimbaud, Leonardo - living through it, in portraits, documents and books. In "Traces Remain", Charles Nicholl, the acclaimed author of "The Reckoning", "The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street" and "Leonardo da Vinci: The Flights of the Mind", transforms these glimpses through time into comic and poignant vignettes, and curious, intriguing puzzles. From a mysterious painting found in a Hereford house to the death of an alchemist, and from a new Jack the Ripper suspect to a gold hunt in El Dorado, Nicholl's twenty-five fascinating essays take in two murders, three disappearances and a missing Shakespeare play to show the marvel and tenacity of these wonderful historical traces. "Our finest literary and historical detective...Deliciously readable". ("Financial Times"). "Charles Nicholl confirms his role as literature's historic Holmes ...thoroughly captivating". ("Scotsman"). "Some writers are so good at what they do that they can take you anywhere. Charles Nicholl is one of them". ("Irish Times").
Common Knowledge, 2010
Beginning with Rowe's account ofthe life in 1709, Shakespeare biographies have appeared with incr... more Beginning with Rowe's account ofthe life in 1709, Shakespeare biographies have appeared with increasing frequency. Though Stephen Greenblatt's Will in the World is a recent and successful instance of a traditional life, with its trajectory from cradle to grave, there has been a discernible move away from such broad canvasses toward more strictly limited topics. For example, James Shapiro's 1^99: A Year in the Life of Shakespeare, eschews the comprehensive vita in order to focus attention on one extraordinary year. In place of such chronological limitations, Nicholl offers a geographical or topological limit. The Lodger: Shakespeare on Silver Street is focused on recovering a small but intriguing episode from Shakespeare's past: a lawsuit involving the family of Christopher Mountjoy, a Huguenot refugee, with whom Shakespeare lodged. While resident in Silver Street, between 1602 and 1604, Shakespeare had helped the family to arrange the marriage between their daughter and Stephen Belott, an apprentice in their tire-making business. Shakespeare was subsequently called as a witness when, in 1612, Stephen Belott sued his father-in-law for failing to provide a promised dowry. The scenario is redolent of actuality and holds forth the prospect of finding Shakespeare enmeshed in a particular social world. Moreover, the reassuringly plain depositions seem transparent in a way that the plays and poems never do. Unfortunately, Shakespeare's testimony-which, as Nicholl reminds us, is as close as we will ever get to hearing the playwright speak-is not very revealing. Shakespeare acknowledges having played a role in the negotiations, but unhelpfully he is not able to recall the amount ofthe promised dowry. The Lodger is an example ofthe sort of microhistory championed by Carlo Ginzberg, and Nicholl succeeds in drawing out a wide range of implications from this apparently minor episode. There is much detail about Elizabethan marriage custom and law; an elaborate account of tire making and the emergence of a fashion industry in metropolitan London; a vivid depiction of the demimonde of prostitution; and some very interesting speculations about George Wilkins, a dubious character with whom Shakespeare appears to have collaborated on Pericles. As fascinating as all this is, the section that seems to bring us closest to Shakespeare concerns the place of immigrants in London and makes an argument for Shakespeare's general sympathy toward strangers. His willingness to live among them is taken as evidence, enhanced by looking at episodes from the plays, perhaps most persuasively the scene in The Book of Sir Thomas More that is thought to have been authored by Shakespeare. That scene offers a moving argument against the sort of xenophobic violence that repeatedly convulsed the city. Yet there is no compelling reason to conclude that taking up lodging in a Huguenot household was a gesture of solidarity. It might have been an exprès
... 22. A scene from Titus Andronicus by Henry Peacham, c. 1594. Longleat House, Warminster, Wilt... more ... 22. A scene from Titus Andronicus by Henry Peacham, c. 1594. Longleat House, Warminster, Wilts (Portland Papers 1, fol. 159V). ... He says he has known both men, the plaintiff and the defendant, 'for the space of tenne yeres or thereaboutes' - in other words, since about 1602. ...
Renaissance Quarterly, 1985
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 2004
Christopher Marlowe and English Renaissance Culture, 2018
This work tells of Nicholl's trip up the rivers of Venezuela, following the route of Sir Walt... more This work tells of Nicholl's trip up the rivers of Venezuela, following the route of Sir Walter Raleigh on his search for Eldorado. Nicholl extends his journey into the beautiful tropical forests of Paragna and Canaima where he meets adventurers searching for gold and diamonds.
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Papers by Charles Nicholl