Title	[Book Plate of W. C. Macready, "Benedick]
Date	Undated
Contributor	The London Printing and Publishing Company
Production	Much Ado About Nothing
Character roles	William Charles Macready (Benedick)
Artistic roles	William Charles Macready (Actor, Manager)
Genre	Shakespeare comedy
Theme	Shakespeare
Places	London (United Kingdom)
Item description	Book plate believed to be from 'The Complete Works of Shakspere [sic]' published by The London Printing and Publishing Company, although not the first edition owing to the colorization of the illustration. The color illustration depicts actor William Charles Macready in the role of Benedick from 'Much Ado About Nothing.'
Object narrative	William Charles Macready (1793-1873) was a well-known and popular actor in England during the 19th century, having first appeared in one of his father's theatres in 1810 as Romeo. Within ten years, Macready would be playing in one of London's premiere theatres, the Theatre Royal Covent Garden. His prominence beginning with a successful portrayal of Shakespeare's Richard III, he became a regular player at the rival patent theatre, the Theatre Royal Drury Lane, where his success was cemented as he developed further in his Shakespearean repertoire. Eventually, he would develop such memorable characters as Virginius, William Tell, Werner, Macbeth, King Lear, and Othello. In 1826 he traveled to America for the first time, meeting with success. On a subsequent American tour, his now infamous acting feud with American actor Edwin Forrest fueled nationalistic sentiments on both sides of the Atlantic which erupted in the Astor Place Riot in New York City on May 10, 1849. In this rendering, believed to be a plate from 'The Complete Works of Shakspere [sic]' in three volumes published by The London Printing and Publishing Company (not the first edition), Macready is shown in the role of Benedick from Much Ado About Nothing. Macready first considered the role of Benedick in 1833 during a disastrous season under the management of Alfred Bunn, but did not take to the stage in the comedy until Feb. 24, 1843. Macready believed he had performed the role well, but a fellow actor, James Anderson, said that the general public said he was as melancholy as a mourning-coach in a snowstorm (qtd. in Archer, Macready 137). Indeed, in this illustration Macready does look rather confused and unenthusiastic, although this could be attributed to the painter. A note on the plate says that the engraving was from an original painting by Tracey. A quote from Act 2, Sc. 3 is also featured, saying: I do much wonder, that one man seeing how much another man is a fool when he dedicates his behaviours to love, will, after he hath laughed at such shallow follies in others, become the argument of his own scorn; by falling in love: And such a man is Claudio.
Type	Text
Original format	Book Plate
Original publisher	[Place of publication not identified] : [publisher not identified]
Language	en
Contributing institution	Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives, UNCG University Libraries
Source collection	MSS255 Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection
Series/grouping	10.2.3: Photographs, Cards, Caricatures/Satire and Other Pictoral Materials -- Postcards -- Theatres
Box	92
Finding aid link	http://library.uncg.edu/info/depts/scua/collections/manuscripts/ead/mss255.xml
Preferred citation	[Identification of item], Robert C. Hansen Performing Arts Collection, 1753-2006 (MSS255), Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives and Manuscripts, University of North Carolina at Greensboro, NC, USA.
Rights statement	http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-US/1.0/
Additional rights information	NO COPYRIGHT - UNITED STATES. This item has been determined to be free of copyright restrictions in the United States. The user is responsible for determing actual copyright status for any reuse of the material.
Object ID	MSS255.B92.010
Digital publisher	The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, University Libraries, PO Box 26170, Greensboro NC 27402-6170, 336.334.5304
OCLC number	872280921

[Book Plate of W. C. Macready, "Benedick"]

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