689 Thomas Kyd (with Brian Vickers) | My Last Book with Jonathan D.S. Schroeder

The History of Literature

Jacke Wilson

History, Books, Arts

4.6 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 24 March 2025

⏱️ 45 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For centuries, the playwright Thomas Kyd has been best known as the author of The Spanish Tragedy, a terrific story of revenge believed to have strongly influenced Shakespeare's Hamlet. And yet, a contemporary referred to Kyd as "industrious Kyd." What happened to the rest of his plays? In this episode, Jacke talks to scholar Brian Vickers about his new book Thomas Kyd: A Dramatist Restored, the first full study of Kyd's life and works, in which Vickers discusses Kyd's accepted canon as well as three additional plays Vickers has newly identified as having been written by Kyd—exciting discoveries that establish him as a major dramatist. PLUS Jonathan D.S. Schroeder (editor of The United States Governed by Six Hundred Thousand Despots: A True Story of Slavery; A Rediscovered Narrative, with a Full Biography, by John Swanson Jacobs) stops by to discuss his choice for the last book he will ever read. Additional listening: 646 Discovering a Long Lost Slave Narrative (with Jonathan D.S. Schroeder) 48 Hamlet 332 Top 10 Things To Love About Hamlet (with Laurie Frankel) The music in this episode is by Gabriel Ruiz-Bernal. Learn more at gabrielruizbernal.com. Help support the show at patreon.com/literature or historyofliterature.com/donate. The History of Literature Podcast is a member of Lit Hub Radio and the Podglomerate Network. Learn more at thepodglomerate.com/historyofliterature. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	The History of Literature Podcast is a member of the Podglomerate Network and Lit Hub Radio.
0:09.5	Have you ever had the urge to sneak behind the cordoned off areas of a museum?
0:14.7	Or roam the halls after closing time?
0:17.7	The Smithsonian's flagship podcast, Side Door, will sneak you behind the scenes of the world's
0:23.6	largest museum and research complex. Come learn about the ghosts that supposedly walk the museum
0:29.7	halls after dark. How a train robbery gave rise to criminal forensics, why leeches are actually
0:35.8	the coolest thing ever, and how to get away with murder in the
0:39.1	Arctic. Maybe. You'll discover stories of history, science, art, and culture you won't find in a
0:45.6	display case. You can listen to Side Door wherever you get your podcasts, or find us online at sI.edu
0:52.6	slash sid door.
1:05.7	Hello, on November 6, 1558, a parish register in England recorded the baptism of Thomas,
1:11.5	son of Francis Kidd, citizen and writer of the court letter of London.
1:16.2	Francis Kidd rose to become the warden of the company of Scriveners.
1:22.4	In the eyes of history, perhaps, and certainly literary history, his son Thomas outdid his illustrious father, mainly by authoring the Spanish tragedy, a groundbreaking work largely credited with
1:29.0	influencing Shakespeare and his psychological study of Hamlet. Only a handful of Thomas
1:35.1	kids' plays survived, although a contemporary reference to him as industrious kid
1:40.9	has long intrigued us with the prospect of what we might have lost.
1:45.7	Until now, scholar Brian Vickers has proposed some new works to attribute to Kidd,
1:51.5	which can point us toward a better understanding of Kidd, the playwright,
1:55.5	and a reassessment of his position in literary history.
1:59.8	Brian Vickers today on the history of literature.
2:12.0	Okay, here we go.
	...

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