While researching Scots economist Adam Smith, a Canadian academic found an edition of Shakespeare’s last play in a Scottish Catholic college in Spain!
Sometimes when scientists are doing basic research with no practical application in sight they land on the missing piece to understanding a rare disease. And when conservationists preserve some creature no one else cares about, the world may later find that the creature is essential to a whole ecosystem. Unexpected discoveries are often the best kind.
Meanwhile, in the department of Treasures Found While Seeking Something Else, there’s a delightful report at the BBC on the unsought discovery of a rare copy of Shakespeare’s last play. No one would have found it if they were looking for it.
Reevel Alderson from BBC Scotland writes, “The Two Noble Kinsmen, written by Shakespeare with John Fletcher, was found by a researcher investigating the work of the Scots economist Adam Smith. …
“In the 17th Century, the seminary in Madrid was an important source of English literature for Spanish intellectuals. The Two Noble Kinsmen was included in a volume made up of several English plays printed from 1630 to 1635.
“Dr John Stone, of the University of Barcelona, said he found it among old books in the library of the Real Colegio de Escoceses — Royal Scots College (RSC) — which is now in Salamanca.
” ‘Friendship turns to rivalry in this study of the intoxication and strangeness of love,’ is how the Royal Shakespeare Company described the play, which is based on Chaucer’s The Knight’s Tale.
“It was probably written around 1613-14 by Shakespeare and John Fletcher, one of the house playwrights in the Bard’s theatre company the King’s Men. …
“Described as a ‘tragicomedy,’ the play features best friends, who are knights captured in a battle. From the window of their prison they see a beautiful woman with whom they each fall in love. Within a moment they have turned from intimate friends to jealous rivals in a strange love story which features absurd adventures and confusions.
“Dr Stone, who has worked in Edinburgh and Aberdeen, said: ‘It is likely these plays arrived as part of some student’s personal library or at the request of the rector of the Royal Scots College, Hugh Semple, who was friends with the Spanish playwright Lope de Vega and had more plays in his personal library. …
” ‘In the 17th and 18th Centuries, collections of books in English were rare in Spain because of ecclesiastical censorship, but the Scots college had special authorisation to import whatever they wanted.’ …
“The rector of the Scots College, Father Tom Kilbride, said the college was proud such an important work had been discovered in its library.
“He said: ‘It says a lot about the kind of education the trainee priests were getting from the foundation of the college in Madrid in 1627, a rounded education in which the culture of the period played an important part. To think that plays would have been read, and possibly performed at that time is quite exciting. There was clearly a great interest in Spain at that time in English literature.’
“The RSC no longer trains men for the priesthood in Scotland, but offers preparatory six-month courses for those expressing a vocation, and holds regular retreats and conferences for the Scottish Catholic community.” More at the BBC, here.
Hat tip: ArtsJournal.com.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Hot dog!
I knew you would approve, Laurie!
Oh, yes!
What an amazing find.
Hidden treasures are all around us.
Great story! So glad there’ll be another Shakespeare play to see. I wonder how many of his plays are collaborations.
Something I loved about amateur theater — sometimes collaborations are so seamless, you can’t tell who came up with what, and that’s fine.
Always interesting the role of religion and churches in Scotland. Religion was wrapped up in politics, and like in America, the results are often unfavorable. Catholic? Prohibit abortion! Evangelical? Require prayer in schools! Want support for your regime? Court the dominant church’s leadership, let church income be free of taxes. And so it goes. Still…
From the vantage of 2020, I guess I’m OK with all that if it means a Shakespeare ms. got preserved!
It encourages one to start thumbing through old dusty times in hopes of finding more treasures.
I know, but the secret of finding something seems to be to *not* look for it!
The joy of happenstance discovery—so true!