Happy birthday, W. Shakespeare!

[truepenny]

This is, in rough approximation, Shakespeare's 440th birthday.

I say "rough approximation" because we don't actually know the date of Shakespeare's birth. He was christened on 26 April 1564. Since christening generally took place three days after a child's birth, 23 April isn't a bad guess. But I think it's become traditional because 23 April 1616 is the day both Shakespeare and Cervantes died, and this makes everything so beautifully tidy.

But anyway, today is Shakespeare's Birthday (Observed). heres_luck and I are celebrating by going book-hunting.

Do something fun and geeky. Somewhere, Will Shakespeare is smiling at you.

Comments

[eeyorerin]

I'm defending my dissertation (in English) today. Completely unintentional scheduling.

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

GOOD LUCK!!!

[larryhammer]

The tradition arrived at the 23rd more because it's St. George's Day. IIRC (from Schoenbaum), the custom of the time was to christen on the first sabbath or saint's day after the birth, the 26th being a Sunday that year, which means possible birthdays are the 23rd, 24th, and 25th.

I plan to read Venus & Adonis tonight, as much because it's next in the anthology of Elizabethan erotic narratives as anything, but I held off starting until today. Source material, and all that.

---L.

[larryhammer]

Hey, good luck there.

---L.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

High Holy Day! The only one I have, really.

[eeyorerin]

Thank you. Apparently I won, although I am still hazy on the details. (After the first hour I think my brain curled up in a corner of my skull so it wouldn't leak out of my ears.)

[truepenny.livejournal.com]

That sounds about right.

Congratulations!

[larryhammer]

Congratulations, Doctor Eeyorerin.

---L.