We begin the week with a look at articles about an edition of Shakespeare’s last play which has been found in Spain and the documentary on Edna St Vincent Millay which is to be re-run.

Scots College in Spain Location of an Edition of Shakespeare’s Last Play

A Scottish Catholic College located in Spain has been revealed as the location of a rare edition of the last play written by William Shakespeare.

The play” The Two Noble Kinsmen” was written with John Fletcher and was located by a researcher who was working at the college investigating the work of Adam Smith the Scots economist.

It is believed that the volume, which dates to 1634, is the oldest work by the poet and playwright in the county. The seminary which is in Madrid was an important source of English literature during the 17^th century for Spanish intellectuals.

A volume, which contains several English plays that were printed between 1630 and 1635, also contains a copy of “The Two Noble Kinsmen”. The play is described by the Royal Shakespeare company as being about a friendship that then turns to rivalry in a study about the strangeness and intoxications of love. It is believed to be based on “The Knight Tale” by Geoffrey Chaucer.

John Fletcher was one of the house playwrights attached to the King’s Men, Shakespeare’s theatre company. It is believed the pair wrote the play between 1613 and 1614. This play was probably the last one that the Bard wrote before he retired to Stratford-on-Avon.

Dr Stone believes that the plays may have arrived in Spain either as a part of a student”s personal library or because they were requested by the rector of the college who was friends with Lope de Vega a Spanish playwright. They may well have been in the library since 1635, when English plays were very popular in Spain as they had an association with elite culture.

At the time, censorship meant that many books were not allowed into the country however the college would have held a position that placed it on a list exempt from such rules.

Millay Film to be Re-aired

Maine Coast TV and the Rockland Historical Society are to sponsor a rerun of the documentary, Burning Candles, which tells the story of the life of the poet Edna St Vincent Millay.

Millay was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry, in 1923. She was born in Rockland and graduated from Vassar before moving to New York. She is known not just for her poetry but also for writing plays, short stories and a libretto for an opera. The film includes performances of some of her poetry as well as interviews with her biographers

The Millay House Rockland is currently fundraising to restore the property where the poet was born. They have received a challenge grant of $20,000 which will be given if they are able to raise $100,000 by February 2021. The fund is just $18,000 short at the moment, but they are hoping to raise this by Christmas.