At this hands-on workshop, curator and English professor Aaron T Pratt, University of Texas, Austin, will walk participants through the way 16th and 17th century English booksellers turned inky sheets of paper, churned out by printers, into readable copies of plays by Shakespeare and his contemporaries—and many other types of literature.

Early playbooks originally circulated in a form that looks rather different from the way books do today. In fact, even the copies of Shakespeare's earliest editions (that have managed to survive for more than four hundred years) usually bear little resemblance to the way they appeared when originally sold.

As participants try their hand at making their own Renaissance playbooks, Dr Pratt will consider the impact their flimsy format has had on the histories we have been taught about English drama. And how a fresh look at flimsy old books has begun to shift our understanding of how Shakespeare became perhaps the most famous author of all time.

What to expect:

A 90-minute tactile workshop for those interested in early modern practices where participants will make a short playbook.

Being Human 2025

This project was produced in collaboration with the 2025 Being Human Festival. Founded in the UK as the only national festival of the humanities, Being Human is now a global celebration dedicated to demonstrating the breadth, diversity and vitality of the humanities.

View the full Festival program here.

Your presenter

Aaron T Pratt is Carl and Lily Pforzheimer Curator of Early Books and Manuscripts at the Harry Ransom Center. His research and teaching focus on bibliography, the history of the book, and the literature and culture of early modern England. His writing has appeared in several venues, including Shakespeare Quarterly, Shakespeare Studies, The Library, Fine Books and Collections, the Times Literary Supplement, and edited collections published by Oxford and Cambridge.