Kemps Nine Daies Wonder: Performed in a Daunce from London to Norwich

Kemp, William, active 1600Project Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

Rating 4.0

Word count: 99K words
Chapters: 10

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Kemps Nine Daies Wonder: Performed in a Daunce from London to Norwich by KempAuthor: Kemp, William, active 1600,Language: English, Class: GV: Geography, Anthropology, Recreation: Recreation, Leisure, Release Date: Jul 2, 2007

Editor's review

This book is a short self-written pamphlet by the Shakespearean actor William Kemp, recording his nine-day journey in 1599 dancing from London to Norwich. Though brief, it holds multiple kinds of value: it is a first-hand account of Elizabethan towns, roads, and popular life, and a precious source for the study of popular entertainment, festive culture, and celebrity self-promotion of the period. Kemp narrates his encounters, the crowds that gathered, and the hospitality of local figures in a humorous, exaggerated, and slightly self-mocking tone; the prose is lively and distinctly performative. For general readers it reads like a travel essay from four hundred years ago, light and accessible; for scholars it is a primary document for theatre history, social history, and early modern English cultural studies. It should be read as a historical text rather than a modern travelogue, with attention to its exaggerations and performative elements.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers interested in Shakespearean theatre and the lives of actors
Students and scholars of early modern English social history, folklore, and travel culture
General readers who enjoy light, humorous classical travel writing
Literature students seeking primary English sources for textual analysis

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting a systematic, fully annotated historical account
Readers who want only a modern plain-language translation and prefer not to engage with the original English
Beginners with little patience for archaic English spelling and syntax

Reading tips

Read the preface or introduction first to understand the background, then proceed to the main text, so archaic spelling does not discourage you.
Read with a map at hand and mark the route from London to Norwich to strengthen the sense of space.
Compare exaggerated passages with contemporary drama and festive materials to identify performative elements in the narrative.
The text is short; read it in two or three sittings, noting interesting town observations after each.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Is this book a complete travelogue?

It is more a short self-account, focused on Kemp's nine-day dance from London to Norwich and what he saw along the way. It is brief and not a systematic, comprehensive travelogue; it should be read as a performative chronicle.

Can I read it without knowing archaic English?

The original spelling and syntax are archaic and will pose difficulties at first. Begin with the introduction for background, then read the main text slowly; related studies or annotations can help. Do not expect to grasp every detail in one reading.

Is it useful for studying Shakespeare?

Kemp was an important actor in Shakespeare's company, and this pamphlet reflects the public image of actors, popular entertainment, and self-promotion of the time. It can serve as supplementary material for theatre history and social-cultural history, but it is not itself a work of dramatic theory.

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Kemp, William, active 1600 Author · English

Kemp, William, active 1600, was an English actor and dancer of the Elizabethan age. Very little is known about his life: public information is limited, and neither the dates of his birth and death nor his early years can be established. He is best known for dancing the morris from London to Norwich in 1600 and for writing an account of the feat, Kemps Nine Daies Wonder: Performed in a Daunce from London to Norwich. Written in the first person, the book describes what he saw along the way, the hardships of the journey, and local customs, in a humorous and plain-spoken style. It is valued both as a personal record and as a source on popular dance and travel in early modern England. One work by him, this book, is held in the collection.