7–9 August 2015
Pembroke College Oxford
A Conference to Mark the Two Hundred and Fiftieth Anniversary of the Publication of Samuel Johnson’s The Plays of William Shakespeare
The publication of Samuel Johnson’s edition of Shakespeare on 10 October 1765 was an important event in his own life and in the history of the editing of Shakespeare. This conference, held at Johnson's college, Pembroke College, Oxford, will invite perspectives from Shakespearians and Johnsonians, and explore the interplay of sameness and difference, restoration and innovation, in Johnson's work. It will reassess Johnson’s achievement as a critic and textual editor by revisiting established contexts and developing new ones.
The plenary speakers will be:
Jenny Davidson (Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University)
Joseph Roach (Sterling Professor of Theater at Yale University)
Henry Woudhuysen (Rector of Lincoln College, Oxford, and General Editor of the Arden Shakespeare)
Lectures and panels will be supported by exhibitions in the Bodleian (including cancelled leave from Johnson’s edition) and Pembroke College (including Johnson’s copy of Warburton’s edition of Shakespeare on loan from Aberystwyth), an informal reading performance of Johnson’s play Irene, and a concert of eighteenth-century music.
For more information, and to book places please visit
https://johnsonandshakespeare2015.wordpress.com
