{"product_id":"9781411431577","title":"Shakespeare's Jest Books (Barnes \u0026 Noble Library of Essential Reading)","description":"\u003ci\u003eShakespeare’s Jest Books\u003c\/i\u003e is an anthology of humorous, often bawdy anecdotes and jokes from late medieval England. Collected in 1864 by the British bibliographer \u003cb\u003eWilliam Carew Hazlitt\u003c\/b\u003e, the jest books are haphazard in their authorial ascriptions: they have origins in the oral tradition and anthologized the professional foolery of noted clowns Richard Tarlton and Will Kemp. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eShakespeare’s most notable direct reference to the jest books appears in \u003ci\u003eMuch Ado About Nothing\u003c\/i\u003e, during one of the play’s memorable witty exchanges between Beatrice and Benedick; Beatrice complains to her gentlewoman Ursula of Benedick: “that I had my good wit out of the \u003ci\u003eHundred Merry Tales\u003c\/i\u003e—well, this was Signior Benedick that said so.”  ","brand":"Barnes \u0026 Noble","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47138296561904,"sku":"9781411431577","price":3.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781411431577_p0.jpg?v=1769895660","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781411431577","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}