As we were saying Always get hold of original
sources but this is more-or-less impossible with Shakespeare.
Shakespeare was depicted as having been apprehended by a local gamekeeper whilst stealing a deer. Over the years the Lucy family made much of this story, particularly in 1769, the year of Garricks festival in Stratford. David Garrick was the most famous actor of his day. The Stratford Corporation commissioned a Gainsborough portrait for the Jubilee and paid him 60 guineas. The original Gainsborough hung in Stratford Town Hall and was destroyed in a fire caused by a cigarette which completely gutted the ballroom in 1946. Our copy hangs in the Charlecote library and shows Garrick leaning against a bust of Shakespeare. Ours is a Nineteenth Century copy and has been described as a notable relic. Garricks Jubilee took place over three days in September 1769 and
was attended by large numbers of nobility and gentry . Garrick had written
a play called Jubilee. Unfortunately it poured with rain and the amphitheatre
was flooded and the Grand procession was abandoned and special fireworks
brought up from London were washed out. The procession would have consisted
of 170 Shakespearean characters from 19 different plays. Many of the participants
were famous actors and the costumes were borrowed from the Drury Lane
Theatre. Garrick later staged it there and it was the hit of the season
allowing him to recoup some of his losses.
In the Charlecote Collection we still have the coat Bachelor George had made for attending the Garrick Festival
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