Provenance ownership, and of evidence left in books that shows how readers interacted with them. Provenance studies may shed light on the books themselves, providing evidence of the role particular titles have played in social, intellectual and literary history. Such studies may also add to our knowledge of particular owners of books. For instance, looking at the books owned by a writer may help to show which works influenced him or her. Many provenance studies are historically focused, and concentrated on books owned by writers, politicians and public figures. The recent ownership of books is studied, however, as is evidence of
To be, or not to be known and quoted lines in modern English, and the soliloquy has been referenced in innumerable works of theatre, literature and music. Hamlet is commonly depicted as reciting the first line while holding a skull, although both occur at separate times—the soliloquy is done in Act III, Scene I; while the contemplation of the skull is done in Act V, Scene I. Much of the plot of 1942 sophisticated comedy "To Be or Not to Be", by Ernst Lubitsch, is focused on the monologue of Hamlet; in 1957 comedy film "A King in New York", Charlie Chaplin recites the famous monologue