NEWS

Shakespeare's Church book launched

23rd June 2010

For eight centuries Holy Trinity church in Stratford-upon-Avon has been intimately involved with the life of its community. Today it is world famous as the church in which William Shakespeare was baptized and where he is buried, but it already had a long and vibrant history when he knew it as a child and a young man before he left his home town to find fame and fortune in London.

Shakespeare’s Church is not only the first detailed portrait of Holy Trinity for over a century, but it also offers fascinating insights into the world of medieval Warwickshire and the religious upheavals of the Tudor era, as well as the Stratford town life amid which the young Shakespeare grew up. The book highlights every aspect of the church itself as a beautiful building in its own right, and teases out the wider themes that its association with Shakespeare inevitably lends it.

Within a few years of Shakespeare’s death in 1616, Holy Trinity had already become a place of literary pilgrimage, and successive vicars had to balance the needs of a parish church with the impact of ever-increasing crowds of visitors. Yet, in the twenty-first century, Holy Trinity remains a living, working parish church, the focus of daily life in Stratford, as well as welcoming over 200,000 visitors every year – making it surely the most visited parish church in the world.

Stunningly illustrated in colour throughout, and packed with historical information, Shakespeare’s Church is a volume for every Shakespeare lover to treasure.

For every book sold, a royalty goes to the Friends of Holy Trinity, which will be added to the restoration funds to help keep this church alive for the pleasure and spiritual comfort of future generations to come.

“It’s extraordinary to think that the church that houses the grave of the world’s greatest dramatist will reach its 800th anniversary in 2010. Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon has been the lynchpin of its community for all that time, and continues to be so. Indeed I’ve always loved to spend time there myself whenever I’ve been playing in Stratford.”

Dame Judi Dench (From the Preface)

“Holy Trinity matters to those who love and admire Shakespeare not only because his physical remains are there. It was also a fixed point in his life. Every day when he went into his garden at New Place (perhaps to check on his mulberry tree), he saw the spire of the church pointing his thoughts to heaven. The first record of his life places him in the church: he was baptised there on 26 April 1564.”

Professor Jonathan Bate (From the Introduction)

Copies of Shakespeare’s Church: A Parish for the World can be ordered online - click HERE for details. Copies are also available in the Shakespeare Bookshop (01789 292176) and the general book trade.

The Editors
Val Horsler was formerly Head of Publishing at English Heritage and has written widely on historic British institutions and buildings.

Revd Martin Gorick is the Vicar of Holy Trinity, Stratford-upon-Avon, and chaplain to the Royal Shakespeare Company.

Paul Edmondson is Head of Learning at The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, Stratford-upon-Avon.

The Publisher
Third Millennium has published books for a number of leading heritage, educational and military institutions. These include titles for Westminster Abbey, York Minster, Durham Cathedral and Lincoln’s Inn; the universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Durham, Manchester, Newcastle and SOAS; Harrow, Rugby School and Wellington College; the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, the Royal Artillery, the Household Division, the Royal Green Jackets, the Army Museum Ogilvy Trust and the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

-ENDS-

NOTES TO EDITORS
Title: Shakespeare’s Church: A Parish for the World
Imprint: Third Millennium Publishing, London
Editors: Paul Edmondson, Martin Gorick, Val Horsler
Publication: 23rd June 2010
RRP: £25.00 / ISBN: 978-1-906507-33-6
Specification: Hardback, 160 pages, 270 x 230 mm, portrait, 40,000 words, over 100 illustrations
Images and Review Copies: Available on request

Media contacts:
(Third Millennium Publishing)
Michael D Jackson - E: mj@tmiltd.com or David Burt - E: db@tmiltd.com
Third Millennium Publishing, 2-5 Benjamin St, London EC1M 5QL
T: 020 7336 0144 W: www.tmiltd.com

(On behalf of The Shakespeare Birthplace Trust)
Tanya Aspinwall – E: Tanya@marketingaloud.co.uk
T: 01926 620028 W: www.marketingaloud.co.uk

For further information contact Michael D Jackson, Marketing Manager, Third Millennium Information Ltd, 2-5 Benjamin St, EC1M 5QL. Tel: +44 (0)207 336 0144. Email: mj@tmiltd.com. Website: www.tmiltd.com