Resumen de < Previous articleNext article > MS Bodley 175, William Bedford’s 1604 Copy and the Antiquarian Afterlife of the Chester Plays
This essay takes as its topic the late, post-performance copying of the manuscripts of the Chester plays, arguing that, in particular, William Bedford’s apparently hastily-copied 1604 version (MS Bodley 175) is neither a production text nor a clandestine exercise in Catholic recusancy, but instead a contribution to the larger movement in antiquarianism and historiography prevalent in the early seventeenth century. Taking as a point of departure David Mills’ assessment of the Bedford manuscript as a ‘personal copy’, the essay argues, that the purpose of the hurried copy was almost certainly to preserve the manuscript for later refinement and bestowal (for potential remuneration) on some wealthy Cestrian patron with an interest in drama and a developing library. A likely candidate for such a presentation copy would be Lord William Stanley, the sixth Earl of Derby (1594–1642).
