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Kit Marlowe
@kitmarlowe1564.co.uk
580 followers 240 following 83 posts
Canterburie, Cambridge & Banckes Syde. Occasionall spye. Elizabethan plaiemaker & poet of scurrilitie. Muses' darlinge. Wit lent from heauen, but vices sent from hell.
Loue@FirstWebsite: https://kitmarlowe1564.co.uk/
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Eye glasses were the essential fashion accessorie whether thou passt the day poring o'er vseless bookes or striking a bargain with Mephistopheles!
#HowToDoWithGlassesInThePast
Woodcut: "Of Useless Books" from Stultifera Navis (Ship of Fools - Basel, 1498), Jacob Locher's Latin edition and translation of Sebastian Brant's original Das Narrenschiff (Basel, 1494) [University of Houston Digital Collections] Poster: Richard Burton as Doctor Faustus (1967) wearing eye glasses and a skull pressed to his ear. Image: A lobby card for the 1967 film Doctor Faustus starring Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and Richard Durden.
October 28, 2025 at 6:19 PM
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Some reviews of the recent Bard in the Botanics production of Doctor Faustus in Glasgow
www.kitmarlowe1564.co.uk/events/forth...
A magician in tuxedo and white gloues magickes a devil's mask from out of a toppe hat
July 14, 2025 at 8:43 PM
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Drop something winged
Mephistopheles flying over Wittenberg - Lithograph illustration by Eugène Delacroix (Paris, 1828)
June 21, 2025 at 10:58 PM
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At Deptford Strand 30 May 1593 after dinner Frysar & I could not agree on "le recknynge". Ingram "in fear of being slaine", with his dagger (value 12d) "gaue Christofer a mortall wounde ouer his right eye of which the aforesayd Christopher Morley then & there instantlie died." So saieth the Coroner.
St Nicholas Church in Deptford where the register recordeth "Christopher Marlowe slaine by ffrancis ffrezer; the 1 of Iune [Anno Dom 1593]". There is no record of where I was buried, but today a memorial can be seene in the churchyard: "Near this spot lie the mortal remains of Christopher Marlowe who met his untimely death in Deptford on May 30th 1593. Cut is the branch that might have grown full straight - Doctor Faustus"
May 30, 2025 at 12:47 PM
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Snappe!
The putative portrait of Christopher Marlowe (1585) with the little Kit Marlowe doll standing in front.
May 9, 2025 at 10:27 AM
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O what a world of profit and delight,
Of power, of honor, of omnipotence,
Is promised to the studious Artizan

Happy #InternationalWorkersDay to those who celebrate!

#DrFaustus #EarlyModern
Woodcut showing a brewer in his cellar inspecting a tankard of ale, with large barrels in a line.
May 1, 2025 at 7:20 AM
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A shorte history of The Tragedie of Dido Queene of Carthage as it hath beene divers times publiquely acted. Newly amended & inlarged and heere published in a second impression at
www.kitmarlowe1564.co.uk/works/dido/i...

#ChristopherMarlowe #ThomasNashe (gent) #EarlyModern #Drama
A montage showing in the background the title page of the 1594 quarto publication of The Tragedie of Dido, flanked by Kit Marlowe and Thomas Nashe, and surrounded by various artistic representations of Dido and Aeneas, along with a couple of production photos and the programme cover from the 2009 National Theatre production.
April 16, 2025 at 7:00 AM
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In mean time take this booke, peruse it throrowly, and thou shalt turne thy selfe into what shape thou wilt.
#DrFaustus
#WorldBookDay
The woodcut from the title page of the 1620 edition of Doctor Faustus, showing Faustus in his magic circle holding a book as a devil appears.
March 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM
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Foure hundred & sixty one yeares ago in 1564 on "the 26th day of ffebruary was Christened Christofer the sonne of John Marlow" at St. George's Church in Canterbury.
#OTD #ChristopherMarlowe
www.kitmarlowe1564.co.uk/life/childho...
A montage of images showing: the record of Marlowe's baptism in the St George's register highlighted yellow, the remaining tower of St George's church, the plaque on the tower commemorating Marlowe's baptism, the house on St George's St purported to be the Marlowe's family home, the putative portrait of Marlowe, and a map of contemporary Canterbury in the background.
February 26, 2025 at 8:41 AM
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"Wyat resteth here, that quick could never rest"

The final resting place of the pioneering English poet & Petrarchan sonneteer Sir Thomas Wyat (1503-42) at Sherborne Abbey
A plaque reading: "In memory of Sir Thomas Wyat poet & statesman who died at Clifton Maybank the house of his friend Sir John Horsey 11th October 1542 and was buried in the vault in this chapel: 'Wyat resteth here, that quick could never rest'." A sketch of Thomas Wyat by Holbein
January 2, 2025 at 3:55 PM
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XXIV. NATIVITY PLAY
Tis the final scene from the Kit Marlowe aduent calendar today, Christmas Eue. I hope thou hast enjoied it. Merry yuletide!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 24. NATIVITY PLAY It is the final scene from the Kit Marlowe advent calendar today on Christmas Eve. I hope you have enjoyed it. Merry Yuletide! QUOTE: "FAUSTUS: You stars that reigned at my nativity, Whose influence hath allotted death and hell" Doctor Faustus, Act 5 Scene 2 PICTURE: The final advent calendar window for 24th December shows a nativity scene in front of a thatched stable under a starry moonlit sky. A large bright star shines overhead. The baby in the manger is Kit Marlowe, and all our advent characters have come to praise him. His mother shows little Kit much affection and his father holds an old dilapidated shoe, saying "I'll save thy sole, son!" The bad angel and good angel perch on top of the stable, each carrying a bow and arrow labelled "VICES" and "WIT" respectively. There are animals around the manger. The cow says "Muuu-ses darling!", the donkey "Eeyore-some!" and the lambs cry "Baaa-rd!" At the rear the three kings on camels bring gifts: Edward II with Gold incense praises "A golden tongue!"; Navarre with Frankincense says "Frankly, I am incensed by his words!"; Henri III carrying Myrrh describes his style as "Myrrh-curial!" Tamburlaine the shepherd with a crook and sheep proclaims his "High astounding terms!" Dido predicts "His Uni verse will be tragic!" Doctor Faustus' opinion is simply that he is "Magic!" whilst Mephistopheles describes him as "Damned good!" Marlowe's fellow writers have come to praise Kit also. Will Shakespeare has "a great reckoning". Robert Greene with ink and quill but missing his table says "No table for writing!" Thomas Nashe reads the Morning Star newspaper with the headline "Strange News!", and Ben Jonson admires "Thy mighty line!" The morning star is born.
December 24, 2024 at 9:44 AM
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XXIII. JINGLE BELLS
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
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POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 23. JINGLE BELLS Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "MEPHISTOPHELES: We fly, in hope to get his glorious soul, Nor will we come unless he uses such means Whereby he is in danger to be damned." Doctor Faustus, Act 1 Scene 3. PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 23rd December shows Santa's sleigh filled with wrapped presents flying through the starry night sky past a huge moon. The sleigh is pulled by two smiling reindeer, the names Cupid and Ascanius printed on their respective harnesses. It is not Santa Claus driving the sleigh, however, but Mephistopheles in a red Santa suit. He is holding the 1995 compilation Funky Christmas by James Brown, the Godfather of Soul shown on the cover in a red Santa hat. Next to him in the sleigh sits Kit Marlowe, holding the 1980 Christmas single 'There Ain't No Sanity Clause' by punk Band the Damned, again showing Santa on the cover. Kit is singing the popular Christmas song about Santa Claus: "He's making a list / He's checking it twice / He's going to find out / Who's naughty and nice / Mephistopheles is coming to town!".
December 23, 2024 at 8:45 AM
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XXII. PLAYING WITH TOYS
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 22. PLAYING WITH TOYS Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "And few great lords in virtuous deeds shall joy, But be surprised with every garish toy; And still enrich the lofty servile clown, Who with encroaching guile keeps learning down." Hero and Leander, First Sestiad. PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 22nd December once again finds us in a cosy Tudor wood-panelled chamber with roaring log fire, Christmas decorations and a beautiful elaborately paned window at the rear. Henry Percy, 9th Earl of Northumberland, sits in an armchair looking thoroughly fed up. He wears a wizard hat, and is singing the popular 1973 Christmas Hit by Wizzard: "O I Wish It Could Be Christmas Every Day, When Kit starts singing and the band begins to play". Next to him sits Kit Marlowe wearing his jester's hat and perhaps singing as he holds a tankard of ale and an Elizabethan penny. Above the fire-place and below the ever-popular portrait of Kit Marlowe hangs four red and white Christmas stockings: two contain teddies wrapped in red and orange paper, whilst the other two hold a yellow hero car and a green Leonardo super-hero Mutant Ninja Turtle toy. A red tambourine hangs on the grate. On the floor are some semi-unwrapped presents: a Dido CD; a Queen CD; the novel Carthage by Joyce Carol Oates; a jewelled Maltese cross pendant; a tube of mascara from Paris; and a Doctor Foster DVD with only "Doctor F" visible.
December 22, 2024 at 10:03 AM
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XXI. HAPPY ST THOMAS DAY
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 21. HAPPY ST THOMAS' DAY Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "O, but two sons he hath, worse then himself, Christmas the one, a pinch-back, cut-throat churl, That keeps no open house, as he should do, Delights in no game or fellowship, Loves no good deeds, and hates talk, But sits in a corner turning Crabs, Or coughing o'er a warmed pot of Ale." Summers Last Will and Testament by Thomas Nashe (1600) PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 21st December shows a woodcut tavern scene. At one table sit a group of ne'er-do-wells suppling ale and smoking pipes with the devil. On a separate table, Thomas Nashe wearing a red Santa hat sits alone coughing, with a tankard of steaming ale and a book in front of him. Above his head hang some festive red and green paper-chains, made from the ankle-chains that he wears in the woodcut of Nashe on the title page of the 1597 pamphlet The Trimming of Thomas Nashe Gentleman by Richard Lichfield. Through the diamond-paned tavern window we can see Kit Marlowe looking in.
December 21, 2024 at 10:28 AM
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XX. THE PLEASURE OF SWEETES
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 20. THE PLEASURE OF SWEETS Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "FAUSTUS: And long ere this I should have slain myself, Had not sweet pleasure conquered deep despair." PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 20th December shows another wood-panelled room decorated for Christmas, with a big brightly-lit tree and roaring log fire. A number of portraits hang on the wall above the fire-place, showing Kit Marlowe, Helen of Troy and the Duke of Guise. In front of the fire, Kit Marlowe stands next to a seated King Edward II. On the floor before the pair are a selection of Christmas sweets and chocolates: Cadbury's Heroe&, Lindt Leandor, Valentine JuJus; Maltesers, a triangular bar of Tamburlaine, a tub of Cadbury's Rose; some drinks - a can of Dr (Pepper), a can of Faustus, a bottle of Mephistopheles stout (Avery Brewers); Geese's peanut butter cups; Dido Klasik; Aer(o) with the O hidden such that it might say Aeneas; a bag of Galaxy Minstrels; a bag of Revels; and a couple of partially visible Kit (Kats). King Edward has clearly eaten too many sweets and is maybe suffering from heart-burn, for he is gulping from a bottle of Gaviston to try and ease the pain.
December 20, 2024 at 8:08 AM
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XIX. CRACKERS & CHEESE
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 19. CRACKERS WITH CHEESE Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "HENRI: Believe me, this jest bites sore." PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 19th December shows Catherine de Medici, Henri I Duke of Guise, King Henri III of France, and Navarre (also King Henri IV of France) having Christmas dinner together in a wood-panelled Elizabethan hall warmed by a log fire behind them. The table is laden with food and place-names identify the characters from Marlowe's play The Massacre at Paris (1 Henri, 3 Henri, 4 Henri and Cath). Behind them are portraits of King Henri II and Kit Marlowe. A Christmas tree is lavishly decorated with hanging ornaments, including one of Admiral Coligny. All four unsmiling diners wear different coloured paper party hats and hold pulled Christmas crackers, with the cheesy Franglais cracker jests shown: CATHERINE: Q: Pourquoi doth Catherine de Medici prefer Garibaldi? A: Parce que she careth not for Bourbons! GUISE: Q: Pourquoi do French Catholics carry big handkerchiefs? A: Parce que they struggle with Huge-noses! HENRI III: Q: Pourquoi doth nobody recognise da Roi Henri III? A: Parce que he is da master of dis Guise! NAVARRE: Q: Pourquoi hath PSG signed le supreme Leo? A: Parce que Paris is well worth a Messi! Meanwhile Kit Marlowe wearing a jester's hat with bells peeks out from behing the Guise's sword.
December 19, 2024 at 8:10 AM
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XVIII. PRESENTS CHAMBER
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 18. PRESENTS CHAMBER Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "I, John Faustus of Wittenberg, Doctor, by these presents do give both body and soul to Lucifer, Prince of the East, and his minister Mephistopheles" PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 18th December shows the woodcut chamber of Doctor Faustus as seen on the title page of the 1619 Quarto edition of the play (the so-called B-text "with new additions"). The Doctor stands "within his circle" that has "Jehovah's name forward and backward anagrammatized", one angel hovering above each shoulder. He has made an effort for Christmas: black paper chains adorn the wall next to his globe, and a woodcut Christmas tree stands by the book-shelf. Mephistopheles already holds one large wrapped present with a bow on top, but Faustus is handing him a second. Kit Marlowe peers in through the diamond-paned window from outside.
December 18, 2024 at 8:32 AM
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XVII. A PASSIONATE SHEPHEARD
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 17. A PASSIONATE SHEPHERD Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "THERIDAMAS: Tamburlaine? A Scythian Shepherd so embellished With nature's pride and richest furniture, His looks do menace heaven and dare the Gods, His fiery eyes are fixed upon the earth" Tamburlaine the Great Part 1, Act 1 Scene 2 PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 17th December shows a shepherd tending a large flock of sheep at night-time. A city can be seen in the distance with mountains beyond. The shepherd, Tamburlaine, is holding a stick, wears a breastplate and we can just see his manic red eyes glaring downwards. Next to him a shepherd boy points up to a large bright star in the night sky with his back to us. The boy's familiar golden hair can just be seen escaping from his head-scarf: it is Kit Marlowe. A lamb stands behind the pair and a fire of twigs warms them. Just visible behind the lamb are a number of bottles of London Pride beer. Next to Kit is an elaborately carved wooden chair, with a similarly top of the range Elizabethan chest behind Tamburlaine.
December 17, 2024 at 7:48 AM
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XVI. ANGELS DELIGHT
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 16. ANGEL'S DELIGHT Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "GOOD ANGEL: O Faustus, lay that damned book aside, And gaze not on it, lest it tempt thy soul, And heap God's heavy wrath upon thy head. Read, read the scriptures, that is blasphemy." Doctor Faustus, Act 1 Scene1 PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 16th December shows a close-up of a brightly lit and decorated Christmas tree. On the branches sits Kit Marlowe wearing a red party hat, with a tankard of ale in one hand and reading a book held in the other. Above each of his shoulders, a glass angel Christmas tree decoration hangs from a branch above. Closer inspection of the book that Kit is reading reveals it to be the First Folio edition of Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies.
December 16, 2024 at 8:23 AM
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XV. TOY SOLDIERS
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 15. TOY SOLDIERS Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "MYCETES: And it is a pretty toy to be a poet. Well, well, Meander thou art deeply read, And having thee, I have a jewel sure. Go on my lord, and give your charge I say, Thy wit will make us conquerors today." Tamburlaine the Great Part 1, Act 2 Scene 2 PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 15th December shows a cosy room with wooden panelling, and a log fire burning. Candles, Christmas decorations and red stockings hang above the fire, next to a brightly decorated Christmas tree in the corner. Lord Burghley stands next to the fire in dark crimson robes and a tall hat, holding a long pole in one hand and a conker on a string in the other. Next to him is a billiard table with one white and two red balls. Behind Burghley is a book case, and closer inspection reveals some of the book spines labelled with the names of Marlowe plays. On the floor in front of the fire are two partially unwrapped Christmas presents. One contains a book that we can just see is the 1590 octavo edition of Tamburlaine the Great. The other contains Kit Marlowe.
December 15, 2024 at 9:48 AM
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XIV. RAKES & ALE
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 14. RAKES & ALE Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "ROBIN: Do but speak what thou would have me to do, and I'll do it. If thou would dance naked, put off thy clothes, and I'll conjure thee about presently. Or if thou would go but to the tavern with me, I'll give thee white wine, red wine, claret wine, sack, muscadine, malmsey and whippincrust. Hold belly, hold, and we'll not pay one penny for it." Doctor Faustus, Act 2 Scene 3 PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 14th December shows an Elizabethan tavern packed with the finest writers of the day. The sign hanging from the ceiling tells us we are in the Pen and Ink Tavern. There is a large decorated Christmas tree beyond the bar, and coloured paper chains dangerously dangle from the mantlepiece above a roaring log fire. At the rear of the tavern, Gabriel Harvey returns from the jakes, walking in the opposite direction to an arrow sign pointing to "Gents". He holds a large bottle of beer labelled Harvey's Best. To the right of the fire, Sir Walter Ralegh sits alone beneath a portrait of Kit Marlowe with four ale tankards lined up on his table, labelled "health", "pleasure", "shame" and "madness". At another table Robert Greene and Thomas Nashe in red party hats tuck into a tavern meal of pickled herrings and rhenish wine. Sitting at the bar is Kit Marlowe, and behind him Will Shakespeare. The hand-pumps on the bar display the names of the beer on sale: Marston's Pedigree, Webster's Bitter and Greene King. Behind the bar, Mistress Nell Quickly remonstrates with Shakespeare, saying "I cannot serve thee, Will, thou art bar'd". Kit sits on a bar-stool holding an empty tankard, somewhat sheepishly saying "The reckoning? I seem to have mislaid my purse...". A robin red-breast is perched on a bulging sack of Christmas presents in the middle of the tavern floor.
December 14, 2024 at 8:54 AM
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XIII. LIGHTS & KISSES
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 13. LIGHTS & KISSES Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "EDWARD: For these thy superstitious taperlights, Wherewith thy antichristian churches blaze, I'll fire thy crazed buildings, and enforce The papal towers to kiss the lowly ground" Edward the Second, Act 1 Scene 4 PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for Friday 13th December shows Canterbury Cathedral lit up in the night-time falling snow. King Edward the Second looks on at a Christmas nativity scene in a stable outside the cathedral with snow settling on the roof. A large Christmas tree, also heavy with snow, is decorated by eight lighted taper candles. Four more taper lights can be seen on the cathedral ledges, one black cat next to each pair of candles. Eleven more black cats can be seen in the snow on the ground around the cathedral, on the stable roof and up on a much higher cathedral ledge. Kit Marlowe emerges from the main Cathedral door holding a taper candle to find himself walking under a ladder. A closer look in the dark snowy sky above the cathedral reveals thirteen witches flying around the church towers on their broomsticks.
December 13, 2024 at 8:00 AM
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XII. MISTLETOE & LINES
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModern #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 12. MISTLETOE & LINES Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "FAUSTUS: Was this the face that launched a thousand ships? And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss!" Doctor Faustus, Act 5 Scene 1 PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 12th December is based on the Armada Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I from 1588 (now at Woburn Abbey). The Queen here is portrayed by Helen Mirren, wearing her armoured breast-plate from the Tilbury Armada speech scene in the two-part television series Elizabeth I (2005). Behind her stands Doctor Faustus, and a sprig of mistletoe hangs between them from the ceiling above. The crown seen in the portrait is believed to represent the Tudor claim that they were descended from Brutus of Troy (Ilium), the mythical founder and first king of Britain who in turn is supposedly descended from Aeneas [https://www.rmg.co.uk/stories/topics/symbolism-portraits-queen-elizabeth-i]. Through the rear left window we see a multitude of ships from a painting entitled English Ships and the Spanish Armada, August 1588, also by an unknown artist and now held at the Royal Museum Greenwich. Through the right window we can part of the panorama of Elizabethan London engraved by Visscher. The view across the Thames shows St Paul's, its spire on top of the cathedral tower burning after being struck by lightning in 1561. Kit Marlowe peeks around the curtain through the window, standing roughly where Bankside would be in Visscher's engraving.
December 12, 2024 at 7:54 AM
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XI. WHITE CHRISTMAS
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 11. WHITE CHRISTMAS Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "The reason snowman knows, let it suffice What we behold is censured by our eyes. Where both deliberate, the love is slight, Who ever loved, that loved not at first sight?" Hero and Leander, First Sestiad. PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 11th December shows the Hellespont in an engraving entitled Hero and Leander by Philips Galle (1569), after a design by Maarten van Heemskerck and now held in the Rijksmuseum. Two snowmen stand on either side of the strait, looking adoringly at one another, their red hearts pounding. On the left bank (Abydos) stands Leander on the snowy ground preparing to dive into the water, despite carrot nose and buttons, and slices of fruit producing a slashed doublet effect, that will all surely be lost in the water. His hair of twigs is long and wild, and vaguely familiar. On the opposite bank (Sestos) Hero stands waiting, wearing a red Santa hat and a big coal-lump smile. In the distance are boats on the water, the two cities and a mountain beyond. On the left behind Leander stands a castle, and the small silhouette of Kit Marlowe can just be seen atop a corner turret, holding a camera phone.
December 11, 2024 at 7:59 AM
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X. GAMMON & CLARET
Opening one Kit Marlowe aduent calendar window euerie morning for a prettie picture and some seasonal goode cheere!
#ChristopherMarlowe #EarlyModernDrama #AdventCalendar
POST: #TheAdventOfMarlowe 10. GAMMON & CLARET Opening one Kit Marlowe advent calendar window every morning for a pretty picture and some seasonal good cheer! QUOTE: "I am Gluttony: my parents are all dead and the devil a penny they have left me but a bare pension, and that is 30 meals a day and ten beavers, a small trifle to suffice nature. O I come of a royal parentage, my grandfather was a gammon of bacon, my grandmother a hogshead of Claret wine." Doctor Faustus, Act 2 Scene 2 PICTURE: The opened advent calendar window for 10th December shows a scene based on a woodcut entitled "Of Gluttony" one of a series on the seven deadly sins found in 'A Christal Glass of Christian Reformation' by the clergyman Stephen Bateman (John Day, London, 1569). A table in the centre of the room contains food and drink (including a trifle in a desert glass) and is surrounded by four men, two having swords drawn. One man is about to stab another as Doctor Faustus, wine in hand, tries to restrain him. Another lies unconscious on the floor with a knife beside him. An Elizabethan penny lies on the floor under the table. Ten heraldic beavers statant roam the floor. On the back wall are hung two family portraits - a gammon of bacon and a hogshead of claret. Death in the form of a skeleton climbs in through the rear window, as Kit Marlowe looks in from behind.
December 10, 2024 at 8:00 AM