Derek Jacobi's schoolboy copy of Hamlet [manuscript].
Items
Details
Title
Derek Jacobi's schoolboy copy of Hamlet [manuscript].
Description
1 v. + + 5 manuscript notes.
Note
This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. The "FAST ACC" number is a temporary call number. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.
Place of creation/publication
Great Britain -- England.
Item Details
Call number
FAST ACC 270936 (quarto)
Folger-specific note
From dealer's description: "The Shakespearian actor Derek Jacobi's schoolboy copy of Hamlet with, laid in, Jacobi's own two page 'Paraphrase' in modern English of Hamlet's soliloquy, 'O What a Rogue and Peasant Slave', and a letter to Jacobi from a friend and housemate in London which was written two months before Jacobi debuted as Laertes in the National Theatre's inaugural production of Hamlet in October 1963. The text is A W Verity's 1921 edition of Hamlet, a very worn copy in red cloth, lacking the backstrip, several detached pages, with the bookplate of Jacobi's school, 'Leyton County High School for Boys' on the first blank. Jacobi has not written his name in the text which has been annotated throughout by several generations of schoolboys: it would need careful scrutiny to identify and distinguish Jacobi's notes from those of his predecessors. Jacobi first played Hamlet in the sixth form while at Leyton School - this may well have been the text he used though apart from a couple of marked cuts to the text we've not identified any obvious dramatic markings. Jacobi's schoolboy paraphrase of Hamlet's Act II soliloquy has the actor's name on the first page, runs to two pages with corrections in red pen which conclude with a wonderfully teacherly comment at the end: 'Very fine, close work! Some slight errors of detail... You're becoming more academic and precise. Excellent! You're losing that linguistic obesity!!' Additionally there is a 1963 letter written shortly before Jacobi's played Laertes as a founder member of the National Theatre company. The letter from 'Richard', a friend and housemate, encourages Jacobi to move into their shared digs in Bryanston Place, London W1, soon 'Your room is quite presentable as it is until you're free to decorate it how you want it... See you soon. Still an undiscovered great by the way.' This payoff is probably an allusion to Jacobi's sudden success after he was invited from the provinces to join Olivier's National Theatre company playing Laertes opposite Peter O'Toole in the National Theatre's inaugural production, later touring the role of Hamlet in the late 1970's after his career-defining performance in I Claudius." Modern First Editions, D 9249, 2018-11-08, email query.
Folger accession
270936