The Ghost–The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke, Act 1, Scene 2

William Shakespeare|Edward Gordon Craig

ca. 1928 · Woodcut on vellum; proof · Drawings and Prints

This image comes from a set of illustrations to Hamlet that Craig worked on for seventeen years, developed from prints originally made around 1909–10 to demonstrate his revolutionary ideas for a production staged by the Moscow Art Theatre in 1912. A fine German illustrated edition integrating Craig's images with the text appeared in 1929, printed by Count Harry Kessler at the Cranach Press in Weimar, with a version in English following in 1930. The present sheet comes from a set of proofs issued with deluxe versions of the bound text. In Craig's visionary 1912 staging, the ghost was divided into two separate beings—a skeletal representation of Hamlet’s murdered father in act 1, seen here, and the androgynous "daemon," or alter ego, who entices the prince toward death later in the drama.

Artist

William Shakespeare|Edward Gordon Craig

Date

ca. 1928

Medium

Woodcut on vellum; proof

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Gift of Lincoln Kirstein, 1953