New sonnets and old Shakespeare: Russell Maret and the Sonnets 2016 collection

Sonnet 99, Peter Rukavina, Reinvented Press
Sonnet 99, Peter Rukavina, Reinvented Press

Russell Maret, 2017 printer-in-residence at the Bodleian, led a seminar looking at old and new printings of Shakespeare. Participating were some of the printers who had contributed to the Bodleian’s new collection of Shakespeare’s sonnets printed in 2016. The group discussed questions of fidelity to the early printed texts, artistic interpretation, and personal responses to the poems.

The seminar examined new and old: the earliest edition of Shakespeare’s Sonnets (1609) and the First Folio edition of his plays (1623), and a selection of the 2016-printed sonnets, each presenting one 14-line poem in a different format including:

  • Number 99: a library catalogue card drawer, with each word of the sonnet on a separate file card
  • Number 114: ‘Vibrate-lances Zone 114’, a poster-size Dadaist interpretation with the text printed in two colours
  • Number 112: containing a facsimile of the 1609 printing and a facsimile of a portion of the Droeshout engraved portrait from the First Folio
  • Number 110: a movable with winking eye and disappearing lines
  • Number 81: with a delicate decoration of gothic arches
  • Number 74: resembling an obituary broadside, aptly commemorating the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death
  • Number 62: alternating lines of black and red giving original and modernized spelling
  • Number 50: in a wooden Old West wrapper
  • Number 25: on coloured paper with a calligraphic Spanish translation curving around the printed English
  • Number 15: on red paper, text set in Perpetua, with lines 6 and 7 picked out in Mila Script, and a flower-seed illustration
  • Number 3: fully linocut, with the last two lines depicted as a reflection in water
  • Number 27: in old style; type-written; and in binary code
  • Numbers 5&6: using a facsimile of the Doves Press type, referencing the Doves Press 1909 edition of the Sonnets
  • Number 28: several copies on beer-mats in two colours

This last sparked thoughts of adjourning the seminar, but there was some work to do first.  The printers’ expertise was put to work at the Bodleian’s Bibliographical Press to make a keepsake of the occasion;  lines from King Lear in three colours, with unlocked type interpreting loosening coherence.

Loose type for Lear

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 127 to 154, printed in 2016; The Dark Lady sonnets

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 121 to 126, printed in 2016

Vile or vile esteemed? Look hard for the ‘missing’ lines in Sonnet 126. More to come on these sonnets, with notes of their making, in a later blogpost.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 100 to 120, printed in 2016

In 2016, the 400 year after William Shakespeare’s death, the Bodleian Library asked printers around the world to print his sonnets afresh. These are the results.

See more Shakespeare sonnets printed in 2016

Sonnet 117, The Press of Robert Lo Mascolo, Union Springs, New York
Sonnet 117, The Press of Robert Lo Mascolo, Union Springs, New York [detail]

Shakespeare’s Sonnet 99, printed in 2016

Peter Rukavina, in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada, printed Sonnet 99 for the Bodleian’s appeal for Shakespeare’s sonnets printed by any means of relief printing in 2016, the 400th anniversary of the poet’s death. The images below, supplied by Peter Rukavina, indicate the process. The finished product can be seen in this animation, by Adam Koszary.  https://youtu.be/2LHpc0kFzss

Sonnet 99, Peter Rukavina, Reinvented Press, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. Letterpress printed on a Golding Jobber No. 8 Press.

Preparation for printing part of Sonnet 99. Photo: Peter Rukavina
Preparation for printing part of Sonnet 99. Photo: Peter Rukavina
Printer's copy for Sonnet 99, printed by Peter Rukavina
Printer’s copy for Sonnet 99, printed by Peter Rukavina

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 78 to 98

This series is called, ‘Figures of delight,’ after the title given to Sonnet 98 by Ken Burnley, Silver Birch Press. NOTE – missing sonnets will be supplied in the correct place as soon as photos are made!

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 58 to 77, printed in 2016

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 37 to 56, printed in 2016

NOTE: Sonnet 38, printed by Armina Ghazarian, in Ghent, will be pictured in an update of this post.

Shakespeare’s Sonnets 19 to 36, printed in 2016