Thomas Nashe, Summers Last Will and Testament

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Summers Last Will and Testament

was printed in 1600 – illegally, since the writings of Nashe and his enemy Gabriel Harvey had been banned the previous year. On 1 June 1599, John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, and Richard Bancroft, Bishop of London, issued a decree that “all Nasshes and Doctor Harvyes bookes be taken wheresoever they maye be found and that none of theire bookes bee ever printed hereafter” (Arber,

Transcript

677).

Summers Last Will

dates from a happier period in Nashe’s relationship with Whitgift: the play (the only extant one of which Nashe was sole author) was probably performed at the Archbishop’s house in Croydon, circa 1592.

The title contains a pun: the play includes the characters both of Summer, the season, and Will Summers or Sommers, the historical

3107 words

Citation: Roberts, Peter Brynmor. "Summers Last Will and Testament". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 04 January 2011 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1769, accessed 29 March 2024.]

1769 Summers Last Will and Testament 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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