Re: Daniel Jones's first public presentation of Shakespeare in original pronunciation (3-7-1909)

Now this is interesting. Crystal, as you know, is quite proud of his
part in the first (?) staging of a complete Shakespeare play with
original pronunciation, at the new Globe in London (Romeo and Juliet,
2004). But I did not know of Jones's presentation.

It all started with Alexander John Ellis (see 14 June), who amassed a
huge amount of evidence on the history of English phonology. However, he
wrote in 1871: "It is, of course, not to be thought of that
Shakespeare's plays should now be publicly read or performed in this
pronunciation." Perhaps he just meant it shouldn't be compulsory.
>
Jones, at any rate, read scenes from _The Tempest_ and _Twelfth Night_
on this date in July 1909. (Crystal doesn't say where, on what occasion,
to what sort of audience.) He was emboldened to do it again in December,
adding some madrigals from the period.