Abstract:Modern biographical studies of Shakespeare owe much to John Aubrey's decision in 1681 to interview the retired theater manager William Beeston. Preserved in the notes that arose from their discussions is an anecdote that has proven especially tantalizing to scholars: on the verso side of MS Aubrey 8, fol. 45—a paper slip bound into one of the folios at the Bodleian Library containing Aubrey's Brief Lives—are the words: "the more to be admired quia he was not a company keeper / lived in Shoreditch, would n[o]t be debauched, & if invited to / [gout?]: he was in paine." The inscription's proximity to Shakespeare's name on the page has led many to regard it as one of the most revealing passages ever written about the playwright. But does it properly apply to him? This essay explores the alternative possibility, first proposed by Aubrey's nineteenth-century editor Andrew Clark, that the passage in fact refers to the antiquary's informant, Beeston. New evidence concerning the professional ruin into which Beeston fell at the end of his life appears to support Clark's proposition. As this research aims to show, at stake in our interpretation of the manuscript are an array of biographical narratives that scholars have spun from Aubrey's text, conceptualizing everything from Shakespeare's writing habits and artistic preoccupations to his sex life and final days alive.

中文翻译：

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莎士比亚“不是公司老板吗？”：威廉·比斯顿和奥布里女士 8，fol。45V

摘要：莎士比亚的现代传记研究很大程度上归功于约翰·奥布里 (John Aubrey) 于 1681 年采访退休剧院经理威廉·比斯顿 (William Beeston) 的决定。在他们讨论的笔记中保存了一个轶事，事实证明，这对学者来说特别诱人：在 MS Aubrey 8 的反面，fol。45——一张装在博德利图书馆的一本对开页上的纸条，里面有奥布里的短暂生活——是这样的话：“更值得钦佩的是，他不是公司老板/住在肖尔迪奇，不会被放荡，&如果被邀请参加/[痛风？]：他很痛苦。” 铭文与页面上莎士比亚的名字很接近，这使许多人认为它是有史以来关于这位剧作家的最具启发性的段落之一。但这真的适用于他吗？本文探讨了另一种可能性，最初由奥布里 19 世纪的编辑安德鲁克拉克提出，该段落实际上指的是古物的线人比斯顿。关于比斯顿在他生命的尽头陷入职业废墟的新证据似乎支持克拉克的命题。正如这项研究旨在表明，在我们对手稿的解释中，有一系列的传记叙述处于危险之中，这些叙述是学者们从奥布里的文本中衍生出来的，从莎士比亚的写作习惯和艺术关注到他的性生活和在世的最后几天，概念化了一切。s 的提议。正如这项研究旨在表明，在我们对手稿的解释中，有一系列的传记叙述处于危险之中，这些叙述是学者们从奥布里的文本中衍生出来的，从莎士比亚的写作习惯和艺术关注到他的性生活和在世的最后几天，概念化了一切。s 的提议。正如这项研究旨在表明，在我们对手稿的解释中，有一系列的传记叙述处于危险之中，这些叙述是学者们从奥布里的文本中衍生出来的，从莎士比亚的写作习惯和艺术关注到他的性生活和在世的最后几天，概念化了一切。