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BBC News
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- BBC News
Shakespeare sonnet copy from 17th century found by Oxford researcher
A rare hand-written copy of one of the most famous love poems ever written has been discovered after hundreds of Leah Veronese uncovered the version of William Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 tucked away in a 17th-century poetry collection at the University of manuscript was found among the papers of Elias Ashmole, founder of Oxford's Ashmolean Emma Smith, an Oxford expert in Shakespeare, said the "exciting discovery" would help researchers understand the Bard's popularity in the decades following his death. Dr Veronese found the sonnet featured in a miscellany - a type of manuscript which contains a selection of texts from different authors on various subjects - stored at the Bodleian Library."As I was leafing through the manuscript, the poem struck me as an odd version of Sonnet 116," the university researcher explained."When I looked in the catalogue (originally compiled in the nineteenth century) the poem was described, not inaccurately, as "on constancy in love" – but it doesn't mention Shakespeare." In Ashmole's version, parts of Sonnet 116 - also known as Let me not to the marriage of true minds - have been altered, and additional lines Veronese said she thought the changed first line and the lack of mention of Shakespeare were the reasons "why this poem has passed un-noticed as a copy of Sonnet 116 all these years".The sonnet sits in the miscellany alongside "politically charged" works from the 1640s - the decade of the English Civil War, fought between Royalists and was a strong supporter of the monarchy, and the lines added to the sonnet could be read as an appeal towards religious and political loyalty. The added lines "potentially transform" the sonnet from "a meditation on romantic love into a powerful political statement", researchers Smith said: "Let me not to the marriage of true minds is now one of Shakespeare's most famous sonnets, but it doesn't seem to have been very popular in his own time.""What Dr Veronese shows in her investigation of this new version is that the sonnet being understood in the context of Royalist politics – a long way from its role in modern weddings," she added. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
BBC News
07-02-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Amal Clooney appointed to Oxford University role
Human rights lawyer Amal Clooney is to take up a role at the University of barrister will serve as a visiting professor of practice in international law at the Blavatnik School of Clooney, who read law at St Hugh's College, said: "I am honoured to be back at Oxford, this time not as a student but as a professor."The school says its aims are to train future world leaders and support better government and public policy around the world. Ms Clooney added: "It is a privilege to have this opportunity to engage with the next generation of global leaders and to contribute to the vibrant academic community at Oxford. "I look forward to collaborating with both faculty and students to advance access to justice around the world."Ngaire Woods, dean of the Blavatnik School, said she was "delighted" to welcome Ms Clooney as a visiting professor."As a pre-eminent practitioner and scholar, Amal's expertise and insights will greatly enhance the school's research and teaching," she said. Women's rights British-Lebanese barrister Amal Clooney is known for taking on high-profile human rights was part of the legal team working towards the release of Al Jazeera journalists jailed in Egypt, and represented Nadia Murad, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who was captured and tortured by the group calling itself Islamic founded the Clooney Foundation for Justice with husband George Clooney, which provides free legal aid in defence of free speech and women's rights around the Clooney was formerly a visiting professor at Columbia Law School, and published textbooks on international law. Oxford University said her award-winning book The Right to a Fair Trial in International Law had been cited in judicial proceedings, including by the UK Supreme January it was announced that former prime minister Rishi Sunak would be joining the school as a member of its World Leaders Circle. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X, or Instagram.
