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Shakespeare
1616-1916
THE
REDWOOD LIBRARY GUIDE
TO AN APPRECIATION OF
Wm SHAKESPEARE
His Works and Fame
Being
A Few Explanatory Notes
On an Exhibition of Books and Manuscripts
Selected from the Collection of
Mr. MARSDEN J. PERRY
it
* A
PRINTED in Providence at the sign of the Standard and are to be sold for the Benefit of the Redwood Library on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, Rhode Island, 1916
Copyright, 1916
By GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP
TO T#E READER
rHE REDWOOD LIBRARY joins in the Celebration of the Tercentenary of Shakespeare's death with an exhibition of engraved portraits, of engravings of actors in Shakespearean parts, accompanied by autograph letters signed by many famous players, and of the books and manuscripts described on the following pages. From the middle of June until the first of August, the people of Newport and their visitors have an opportunity to see the most significant, and some of the rarest and most valuable presentations of the poet's personal appearance, and many interpretations of the playwright's creations.
The books have been selected with the object of making William Shakespeare seem like a real person. They show how his writings were first Printed ; the books he read; what his friends were reading and writing ; and what his con- temporaries thought about him. The notes in this Guide try to emphasize this character of these Shakespearean treasures. These are of inestimable value because they have to do with one of the greatest geniuses that ever lived. But they also show that this genius was a very human being, who did his work and lived his life among his fellows.
The notes, which have made free use of many
3
341567
4
people's learning, also explain some of the phrases used by Shakespearean writers and collectors, which are not always understood by those who are unfamiliar with the byways of Elizabethan literature. It is hoped that this will give the Guide a more permanent interest than might attach to a mere Catalogue of the books which are for a few weeks on public view.
GEORGE PARKER WINSHIP
Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Harvard University
ILLIAM SHAKESPEARE,
the son of a Stratford village trader and town officer, made his way to London and became an actor. Be- fore he was thirty, he had made a place for himself in the public esteem. An angry rival, who saw his former patrons turning to the younger man, described him as "An upstart Crow . . . with his Tygers heart wrapt in a Players hide, ... an absolute Johannes factotum, in his owne conceit, the only Shake- scene in a countrie."
As a factotum, a handy man of all work, the young actor had made himself useful by the year 1592. Gifted with a ready wit, a knack of expressing easily remembered phrases in colloquial garb, and a quick appreciation of the human mind and heart, his fellow actors found abundant work for him to do. The stock company to which they belonged tried a few new plays and revived many old favorites. Then, just as ever since, the actors tried to please their audience, and cared little for anything that interfered with this. When they put on a play, they left out the lines that could be spared, and welcomed new ones, a whole speech or a fresh scene, which made a more successful performance. There is one play in which the whole procedure can be traced.
The age was that of Good Queen Bess, of an island kingdom becoming a world power, of armadas to sink and El Doradoes to seek. The London audiences de- manded patriotic thrills, and the stage managers tried to satisfy them. One play that they produced dealt with the reign of Henry VI, and it illustrates quite perfectly how the actor became a playwright. This was a new play which the company bought from its authors, but the latter found their offspring much changed when they saw it next, upon the public stage. It is likely that Robert Greene's angry protest was due
Born in April, 1564
Robert Greene, who died Sep- tember 3, 1592, in his Greene's Groats-worth of Wit
March 3, 1592
William Shakespeare
No. 1
The printed play has the title: The First part of the Contention be- twixt Yorke and Lancaster
No. 17
The title is : The Whole Conten- tion betweene the two Famous Houses, . . . Divided into two Parts
See Nos. 36-41
Sixteen acknowl- edged plays printed during Shakespeare's Lifetime
Romeo Henry V. Hamlet Pericles Merry Wives
See the Note to No. 5
The Quartos
to the way his upstart rival had dealt with his work in this play. Luckily, the play was printed in 1594, and one of the two surviving copies is in this exhibition. In this it is possible to detect a few lines, possibly a scene or two, which seem to come from Shakespeare's 'prentice hand.
The reign of Henry VI was a popular theme, and eventually it was made the subject of three perform- ances. Shakespeare tinkered with it from time to time, probably introducing some new lines and dis- carding others each time it was revived. It was not printed again until 1619, when it appeared as a part of the famous "first-collected" volume of that year. This was an unauthorized edition and seems to have been taken from a copy of the play as performed some years earlier, before it had received Shakespeare's final revision. His name appeared on the title-page, but this evidence means less than might be wished. The name had become well known, and publishers had shown an inconsiderate desire to attach it to plays with which its owner had little or nothing to do, in order to induce the public to buy them. The form in which he left it appears in the text of the First Folio, where it receives the title by which it is now known: "The second Part of Henry the Sixt."
Shakespeare's plays were written for the stage, but the public demand for copies to read was supplied by the publication of the text of those which had the most popular success. In a few cases the printers issued the plays without the owner's permission, from shorthand copies made during the performances. In most instances, however, the publication was regularly authorized, and it is probable that the text was printed directly from the author's manuscript or from a copy made for the use of the actors.
These separately printed plays are now known as the " Quarto " editions. They were of about the size of this pamphlet, and get the name from the fact that
Lifetime Quartos
the paper on which they were printed was folded twice, into quarters, making four leaves nearly square in shape. The " Folio " editions are so called because they were printed on paper of the same size as the quartos, folded only once, making two tall leaves.
These Quarto editions in this exhibition appeared during the author's lifetime :
The First part of the Contention betwixt the two famous Houses of Yorke and Lancaster. London Printed by Thomas Creed, for Thomas Milling- ton, and are to be sold at his shop under Saint Peters Church in Cornwall. 1594.
This is the earliest form of the play, written by some of his older contemporaries, which Shakespeare revised and amended into " The second Part of Henry the Sixt," as printed in the First Folio, No 26.
The only other recorded copy of this First Part is in the Bodleian Library at Oxford.
There is a record that the play of Henry VI was acted at the Rose Theatre on March 3, 1592.
Only one play with which Shakespeare had to do was printed before this. Titus A ndronicus probably appeared a few weeks earlier in the same year. The single surviving copy of the first edition was discovered in Sweden in the year 1905.
Much adoe about Nothing. As it hath been sundrie times publikely acted by the Lord Chamberlaine his servants. Written by William Shakespeare. Lon- don Printed by V. S. for Andrew Wise, and William Aspley, 1600.
The First Edition of this play, and the only one preceding the First Folio.
The binding of red morocco is by Lortic freres.
The name of Shakespeare first appeared on the title-page of a play in 1598, on the second editions of King Richard II, King Richard III, and Loves Labors Lost.
In 1593 and 1594, he signed the dedications to Venus and Adonis and The Rape of Lucrece, but his name was not at that time well enough known for it to appear on the title-pages of those poems. In 1599 it was used on the title of The Passion-
The Folio*
No.l
Second Part of Henry VI.
Entered for pub- 1 i c a t i o n (i.e., copyright) on the Register of the London Com- pany of Station- ers on March 12, 1593-94
Entered on Feb- ruary 6, 1593-4
No. 2
Much Ado
Entered for pub- lication August 23, 1600
See Nos. 42-44
8
William Shakespeare
See Nos. 36-41
No. 3
Henry IV.
Entered for pub- lication August 23, 1600
No. 4
Richard III.
No. 5
Richard II.
ate Pilgrime, a collection of twenty poems of which he wrote only five.
After 1600, the name occurs usually on the titles of the plays written by him, as well as on several other plays which have few if any lines from his pen.
The Second part of Henrie the fourth, With the humours of Sir John Falstaffe, and swaggering Pistoll. As it hath been sundrie times publikely acted by the Lord Chamberlaine his servants. Written by * William Shakespeare. London Printed by V. S. for Andrew Wise, and William Asp ley, 1600.
The First Edition of this play, giving " The earlier, purer and less sophisticated text." The only Quarto edition preceding the First Folio.
This copy, which lacks the title-page, is of the first issue, printed before the discovery that a part of the third act had been omitted. Six other copies of this first issue are known.
The name written on the margin is that of Admiral Sir William Penn, to whom this copy belonged about 1670.
The Tragedie of King Richard the Third. As it hath bin lately Acted by the Lord Chamberlaine his servants. Newly augmented, By William Shake- speare. London, Printed by Thomas Creede, and are to be sold by Mathew Lawe, dwelling in Paules Church-yard, at the Signe of the Foxe, neare S. Austins gate, 1605. The Fourth Edition. Only three other copies of this edition
are known. First printed in 1597, and again in 1598 (with Shakespeare's
name on the title) and 1602. The third edition claimed in the
title to be " Newly augmented," but it contained no new matter.
This was one of the most popular of Shakespeare's plays, later
editions appearing in 1612, 1622, 1629, and 1634. Admiral Sir William Penn's copy.
The Tragedie of King Richard the Second: \With new additions of the Parliament Sceane, and the deposing of King Richard,'] As it hath been lately acted by the Kinges Majesties servantes, at the Globe.
Lifetime Quartos
By William Shake-speare. London, Printed by W. W. for Mathew Law, and are to be sold at his shop in Paules Church-yard, at the signe of the Foxe. 1608.
This copy lacks the title, so that it is not possible to tell whether this is the first or second issue of the fourth edition, which differ only on the title-page.
The words in brackets above occur on only one copy, at the Bodleian Library. Four copies are recorded without these words, and two others, in addition to this one, lack the title-page- First printed in 1597, twice in 1598, twice in 1608, in 1615 and 1634.
Mr. A. W. Pollard, in the Introduction to a recently published facsimile of the only known copy of the third edition, of 1598, gives strong reasons for believing that the original quarto edition represents the author's actual text as presented on the stage.
The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles. As it hath been divers and sundry times acted by his Maiesties Servants, at the Globe on the Banck- side. By William Shakespeare. Imprinted at London for Henry Gosson, and are to be sold at the signe of the Sunne in Pater-noster row, &c. 1609.
The Second Edition, printed the same year and with the same title as the first, from which it is commonly distinguished by the misprint "Eneer" for Enter in the opening stage direction. Three other copies are recorded of this edition. This is an unusual copy, both on account of its wide margins and uncut edges, and because it shows exactly how these early plays were originally issued to purchasers, in a plain paper wrapper. It is in the condition in which the first purchaser se- cured it, bound with a copy of Samuel Daniel's The Queens Arcadia, printed in 1606.
The quarto editions are the only authority for the text of this play. It is "full of mistakes, which can only be explained by the copy having been taken down by shorthand writers at the theatre."
That Pericles was a very popular play is shown by the frequency with which it was printed: twice in 1609, in 1611, 1619, twice in 1630, and in 1635. Shakespeare's name is on the title of each of these editions, but it was not included among his
See the Note to No. 71
No. 6
Pericles
Entered for pub- 1 icat ion , by another book- seller, May 20, 1608
No. 79 The Queens Arcadia
The 1619 edition is No. 18
10
William Shakespeare
See No. 32
No. 7
Pericles
No. 8
Titus Andronicus
The "Life-time" Quartos
Seventeenth Century Quartos
works by the editors of the First or Second Folios. It was admitted, with six other plays not by him, in the edition of 1664.
The Late, And much admired Play, Called Pericles, By William Shakespeare. Printed at London by S.S. 1611.
The Third Edition. This is the only perfect copy known. The other copy in the British Museum lacks two leaves. The red morocco binding is by Riviere.
The Most Lamentable Tr age die of Titus Andronicus. As it hath sundry times beene plaide by the Kings Maiesties Servants. London, Printed for Bed- ward White, and are to be solde at his shoppe, nere the little North dore of Pauls, at the signe of the Gun. 1611.
The Third Edition.
This was the first Shakespearean play to be printed, in the spring of 1594.
Only a single copy of the first edition, and two of the second, printed in 1600, are known. Fourteen copies of this edition are recorded.
Shakespeare's name does not appear on the title of the quarto editions. It is also the only play ordinarily included in the collection of Shakespeare's works, except the Third Part of Henry VI, of which the early performances were given by com- panies to which he did not belong.
In addition to those already mentioned, ten other Shakespeare plays were printed during his lifetime. These were : Romeo and Juliet, in 1597 and 1599: Henry IV, Parti, and Loves Labor Lost in 1598 ; Mer- chant of Venice, Henry V, and Midsummer Nights Dream, in 1600 ; Merry Wives of Windsor in 1602 ; Hamlet in 1603 and 1604; King Lear in 1608; and Troilus and Cressida in 1609. One other play, Othello, was first printed in 1622, before the appearance of the First Folio, a year later. Three more were published separately in the seventeenth century : The Taming of the Shrew \}\ 1631, Macbeth in 1673 andfutius Caesar in 1684.
Later Quartos
1 1
That these plays were read, as well as acted, is shown by the fact that of these nineteen plays, seventy- six separate editions were printed during the century in which the author lived. A few of these are :
The most excellent Historic of the Merchant of Venice: London : Printed for William Leake, and are to be solde at his shop at the sign of the Crown in Fleetstreet, between the two Temple Gates, 1652.
The Fourth Edition.
This is the Third Edition, of 1637, with a new title intended to make it appear as a fresh publication.
The Tragedy of Hamlet Prince of Denmarke. Newly Imprinted and inlarged, according to the true and perfect Copy lastly Printed. London , Printed by W. S. for John Smethwicke, and are to be sold at his Shop in Saint Duns tans Church-yard in Fleet street: Under the Diall.
The Fourth Edition, undated. Smethwick issued the third edition in 1611, and the fifth in 1637 (see the next title).
The first edition came out in 1603 and the second a year later, with title-pages dated 1604 or 1605. There were two editions in 1676, one in 1683, two issues in 1695 differing only in the im- print, and two editions in 1703.
The Tragedy of Hamlet. London, Printed by R.
Young for John Smethwicke, 1637. The Fifth Edition.
The Tragcedy of Othello. The fourth Edition. London, Printed for William Leak at the Crown in Fleet- street, between the two Temple Gates, 1655.
The Third Edition, so far as known from extant copies. First printed in 1622, and again in 1630. Later editions are dated 1681, 1687, and 1695. This was Sir Henry Irving's copy.
The original editions of the plays which were used by Shakespeare as a foundation, upon which he con- structed his dramas, are only a degree less valuable
See Miss Hen- rietta Bartlett's Ctnsus of "Shake- speare's Plays in Quarto, 1594- 1709, New Haven, 1916.
No. 9
Merchant of Venice
No. 10
Hamlet
An " edition " means an inde- pendent print- ing ; a separate " issue" implies that changes were made in what is other- wise a single printing
No. 11
Hamlet
No. 12 Othello
Source Plays
12
William Shakespeare
No. 13
King John
No. 14
King John
See the text above No. 36
No. 15
King Leir
and important than those of his own acknowledged productions. The title of The First Part of the Contention, listed above as No. 1, might properly have been entered here.
[ The Troublesome Raigne of John King of England. As it was (sundry times) publikely acted by the Queenes Maiesties Players, in the honourable citie of London. Imprinted for Sampson Clarke, on the backe-side of the Roy all Exchange. 1591.]
The First Edition. This copy lacks the title-page. Only one perfect copy is recorded.
Shakespeare's King John was a complete rewriting of this play, from which he took the plot and characters.
The First and second Part of the troublesome Raigne of John King of England. As they were (sundry times) lately acted by the Queenes Maiesties Players. Written by W. Sh. Imprinted at London by Val- entine Simmes for John Helme, and are to be sold at his shop in Saint Dunstons Church-yard in Fleete- street, 1611.
The Second Edition of the non-Shakespearean play.
Shakespeare probably wrote his King John, which was first printed in the First Folio in 1623, about 1594. The use of his initials on the title of this edition, and of his full name the next time it was printed, in 1622, were the device of a bookseller to make the book more saleable, and to supply a popular demand. The actors, in this as in most other cases, were not willing to have the correct text of their play printed.
The True Chronicle History of King Leir, As it hath bene divers and sundry times lately acted. London, Printed for Simon Stafford for John Wright, and are to be sold at his shop at Christes Church dore, next Newgate-Market, 1605.
The First Edition, so far as known. The play was licensed in 1593, perhaps for the purpose of preventing the printers from issuing it.
Shakespeare's play was entirely rewritten from this one.
First Collection
The earliest attempt to issue Shakespeare's works as a set or collected edition was made in 1619. The publisher, Thomas Pavier, and his printer, William Jaggard, had both experimented previously with the commercial value of the playwright's name. Jaggard was responsible for placing it on the title of The Pas- sionate Pilgrime in 1599, and Pavier had named him as the author of The Yorkshire Tragedy, on the title of the first edition, " sold at his shop on Cornhill, neere to the exchange," in 1608. Through the purchase of a printing office, Jaggard had secured a right to The Merchant of Venice, and Pavier had bought from another bookseller a claim to a stolen, shorthand copy, text of Henry V. To these they added A Midsummer Nights Dream, which had been out of print for nine- teen years; Pericles, which nobody claimed; and King Lear and The Merry Wives of Windsor, by some arrangement with the owners. The Whole Contention between York and Lancaster\&& been discarded by the players for another version of the Second Part of Henry VI. With seven plays rather less than more by Shakespeare, the venturers completed their work by crediting to him The Yorkshire Tragedy and The first part of the Life of Sir John Old-castle.
These nine plays, all but one with the line, " Written by William (or, W.) Shakespeare," and the date of the earlier edition from which they were reprinted, on the title-page, were issued by Pavier and Jaggard in 1619. They were doubtless sold separately or in sets, and were also bound in a single volume, in brown leather.
There is no sufficient evidence that the publishers in 1619 tried to mislead their purchasers by offering them books fifteen years old, but the earlier dates on the titles completely deceived the scholars and book- collectors of two centuries later. There were prob- ably at least half a dozen copies of this collection still existing in the original bindings, toward the end of the eighteenth century. One slipped through the hands
The First Collected Edition
See notes to No. 2
See No. 19
See No. 22
See No. 1
See No. 21
The exception is th e gen uine Shakespearean Henry V
William Shakespeare
No. 16
This vol u m e forms the subject ofA.W. Pollard's S A a k e spea re Fo 1 1 o s and Quartos, Lon- don, 1909
No. 17
Second HenryVI Observe the simi- larity of the im- prints at the end of each title and compare with those of other Quartos
No. 18
Pericles
No. 19
Yorkshire Tragedy
of the British Museum authorities and fell into those of an auctioneer's binder, in 1906. Much the same fate disintegrated all of the others, with a single exception. By good fortune the one in Mr. Perry's collection has been preserved intact in its original condition.
This, the only surviving copy of the first collected Shakespeare, belonged in the seventeenth century to Edward Gwynn, a well-known English collector of books, many of which are now preserved in the Bod- leian Library at Oxford. In some way this one found its way to Germany, whence it returned to England in 1962, and soon after migrated again, to Rhode Island.
The quartos which make up this volume are :
The Whole Contention between the two Famous Houses, Lancaster and Yorke. Divided into two Parts: and newly corrected and enlarged. Printed at London, for T. P.
The second state, in print, of the text of " The second Part of Henry the Sixt."
This edition is referred to on page six of this Guide.
The Late, And much admired Play, called Pericles. Printed for T. P. 1619.
The Fourth Edition. The second and third are Nos. 6 and 7, above.
The signature-marks show that this play was intended to follow The Whole Contention. The title was printed on a separate leaf, and inserted.
A Yorkshire Tragedie. Printed for T. P. 1619.
This play was first printed during Shakespeare's lifetime, in 1608, as " Acted by his Maiesties Players at the Globe."
The statement, "Written by W. Shakespeare," appeared on the title of that edition and also in the entry made May 2 of the same year, in the record book of the Company of Stationers.
It is likely that "any play written for the King's Company of actors at this date would have been submitted to Shakespeare for him to read it, to make suggestions, to supervise it, and out of this managerial connexion with a play whispers of his author- ship, if no other name were attached to it, would easily arise."
Collected Plays
A most pleasant and excellent conceited Comedy, of Sir John Falstaffe, and the Merry Wives of Windsor. Printed fo r A rthu r Johnson, 1619.
The Second Edition.
First printed in 1602 "by T. C. for Arthur Johnson and are to be sold at his shop in Powles Church-yard, at the signe of the Flower de Leuse and the Crowne."
The first part Of the true & honorable history, of the Life of Sir John Old-castle, the good Lord Cobham. London, Printed for T. P. 1600.
The Second Edition.
Shakespeare's name does not appear on the title of the genuine first edition, which was printed in 1600. The play is known to have been written in collaboration by Anthony Munday, Michael Drayton, Robert Wilson, and Thomas Hathway. That their friend Shakespeare may have helped them in some sm.ill way is entirely possible.
There are a number of reasons for believing that the part of Falstaff in The Merry Wives was first given the name of Sir John Oldcastle.
The Excellent History of the Merchant of Venice. Printed by J. Roberts, 1600.
The Second Edition.
William Jaggard bought James Roberts' printing business in 1606.
The Chronicle History of Henry the fift. Printed for T. P. 1608.
The Third Edition.
Pavier published the second edition of Henry Fin 1602, but no copy is known of an edition printed in 1608.
M. William Shake-Speare, His True Chronicle History of King Lear. Printed for Nathaniel Butter, 1608.
The Second Edition.
First printed in 1608 " for Nathaniel Butter, and are to be sold at his shop in Pauls Church-yard at the signe of the Pide Bull neere St. Austins Gate." This is commonly referred to as the " Pide Bull edition."
No. 20
Merry Wives
No. 21
Oldcastle
See No. 48
No. 22
Merchant of Venice
No. 23
Henry V
The copy which is shown is from the collection of Dr. Roderick Terry
No. 24
Lear
The copy shown is from Dr. Terry's collec- tion.
The device on the title-page was used on all the other titles, ex- cept the Mid- summer Night's Dream
i6
William Shakespeare
No. 25
Midsummer Nights Dream
The Authorized Edition
John Heminge & Henry Con- dall, to whom Shakespeare by his will left 26s : 8d:
No. 26
The First Folio
Lee's Supple- ment to his Cen- sus, in 1906, accounts for 172 copies
A Midsommer nights dreame. Printed by James Roberts, 1600.
The Second Edition.
There seems to be no evidence that Roberts printed the first edition, in 1600, with the imprint, "for Thomas Fisher, and are to be soulde at his shoppe, at the Signe of the White Hart, in Fleetestreete."
The collected edition or set of 1619 was obviously not an authorized publication. The manuscript copies and acting versions of the plays belonged to the com- pany of actors for whose use they were written. Two of these actors, friends of the author, perhaps on their own initiative or more probably at the suggestion of Edward Blount, arranged to bring out a complete edition ; " onely to keepe the memory of so worthy a Friend & Fellow alive, as was our Shakespeare.' " Blount was the leading publisher of works of literature in London at that time, and a close friend of South- ampton, Marlowe, and others in the literary set.
The volume was entitled :
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Published according to the True Otig- inall Copies. London, Printed by Isaac Jaggard, and Ed. Blount, 1623. [At end : Printed at the Charges of W. Jaggard, Ed. Blount, I. Smithweeke, and W. Aspley, 1623.
The First Folio Edition, in an original seventeenth-century binding of brown leather.
This copy is No. X in Sir Sidney Lee's Census of Extant Copies, London, 1902, " Division A. Perfect copies in good, un- restored condition." Of the 17 copies in this condition, only two are still in their early binding.
Less than 200 copies of the First Folio are still in existence. Most of these are more or less imperfect, showing the effects of repeated readings.
Sir Sidney Lee, in an article published shortly after this volume^ came to America, estimated its value at ^5,000. It belonged previously to Mr. MacGeorge of Glasgow, who secured
The First Folio
17
it from a French family which settled in England after the revo- cation of the Edict of Nantes.
The desirable characteristics of a Shakespeare Folio are that the volume should be
(a) perfect, with every leaf intact, as distinguished from
"complete," which may mean that some leaves have been supplied from another copy of the same edition. The engraved portrait and the leaf of verses arc occa- sionally supplied from a copy of one of the later Folios.
(b) intact, in the original binding, showing exactly how the
volume was originally issued, with the leaves untouched by a modern binder or renovator.
(c} tall, the margins untrimmed, showing the full size of the paper on which the volume was printed. This copy measures 12% by 8# inches. The only taller, perfect copies, measuring 13 inches, are at Trinity College, Cambridge, the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the Boston Public Library and the John Carter Brown Library, Providence.
(d) peculiar, with typographical variations from other copies, throwing light upon the mechanical history of the volume. Interesting accounts of the information to be deduced from these peculiarities of different copies may be found in the preface to Lee's Census and Pollard's Folios and Quartos. This copy has numerous exceptional typographical errors, and a number of seventeenth-century manuscript annotations which were described in The Athenceum, London, August 19, 1899.
The frontispiece is the first published portrait of Shakespeare. It was engraved by Martin Droeshout for this volume, and the verses signed " B. I.," by Ben Jonson, testify to its resemblance to the author. Some of the best authorities believe that it was engraved from a painting dated 1609, which is now in the Stratford Memorial Gallery.
Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. Published according to the true Orig- inall Coppies. The second Impression. Printed by Tho. Cotes, for Robert Allot, and are to be sold at his shop at the signe of the black Be are in Pauls Chu rch-ya rd. 1632. The Second Folio Edition, with "Coppies" instead of
Shakespeare's Portrait
No. 27
Second Folio
" Coppies "
issue
i8
William Shakespeare
Thomas Cotes
See No. 16 Robert Allott
William Aspley Cf. Nos. 2 and 3
RichardMeighen
No. 28
Second Folio
" Copies " on the title-page. In a contemporary brown leather binding, which illustrates the style in which these Folio volumes were originally sold.
This copy formerly belonged to George Daniels, the Shakes- perean collector, and to B. B. MacGeorge of Glasgow.
Several booksellers combined for the publication of this edition. Their names are given in the colophon printed at the end of the volume, which reads : " Printed at London by Thomas Cotes, for John Smethwick, William Aspley, Richard Hawkins, Richard Meighen, and Robert Allot, 1632." Each of these took a portion of the edition for sale, with a separate title-page giving his name and address.
Cotes, the printer of the volume, had bought in 1627 from the widow of Isaac (the son of William) Jaggard, who printed the First Folio, all of the latter's rights in Shakespeare's plays. He added to these by purchase in 1630 whatever rights had per- tained to Pavier, the publisher of the 1619 collection. . He thus secured the profitable printing of the new edition.
Robert Allott, likewise in 1630, obtained Edward Blount's rights to 16 plays. This gave him, as a bookseller, the principal interest in the venture. A large majority of the existing copies have his name on the title-page, and it is probable that these represent approximately his proportion of the whole edition. Three varieties of the title-page were printed for his copies.
William Aspley had been one of the booksellers who shared in the First Folio. He contributed to that the rights which he obtained in 1600 to Much Ado about Nothing and the Second Part of Henry IV. These now entitled him to a share in the new venture, " to be sold at the signe of the Parrot in Pauls Church-yard."
Richard Meighen secured a right to The Merry Wives of Windsor in January, 1630. The small part to which this entitled him doubtless accounts for the fact that copies of the Second Folio, with his name, "at the middle Temple Gate in Fleet street," on the title are the most difficult of all to find.
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies \etc.~\ Printed by Tho. Cotes, for Richard Hawkins, and are to be sold at his shop in Chancery Lane, neere Serjeants Inne, 1632.
The Second Folio, in a contemporary binding.
This copy has the bookplate of Sir Francis Skipworth, Bart., Newbold-Revel, Warwickshire, and is one of the few copies of the poet's works which can be confidently located in the
The Second Folio
neighborhood of his home within the lifetime of his own generation.
Hawkins secured his share of the Second Folio through the ownership of a right to Othello, which he secured in 1628 from Thomas Walkley, the publisher of the first quarto of this play, in 1622. Hawkins issued the second quarto edition in 1630.
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies \etcJ] Printed by Tho. Cotes, for John Smethwick, and are to be sold at his shop in Saint Dunstans Church-yard. 1632.
Smethwick shared in the First and Second Folios through the ownership, secured in 1607, of rights to Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet and Loves Labour Lost. He also owned the non- Shakespearean, and confusing, The Taming of A Shrew.
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies. The Third Impression. London, Pnnted for Philip Chetivinde, 1663.
The first issue of the Third Folio, without the portrait on the title-page. In a contemporary leather binding, from the Mac- George collection.
For some reason, a few copies of this first issue do not have the portrait of Shakespeare, engraved by Droeshout, on the title. A probable explanation is that the original plate had been mislaid and could not be found when the printers were ready for it. It may also be that, as the engraving was im- pressed on the page after the letter-press, these were copies for which there was an immediate demand, and not part of the regular edition.
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies [etc.] Printed for Philip Chetwinde, 1663.
The first issue of the Third Folio, with the portrait. The title has been repaired.
The appearance of a new edition of the plays at tliis time was doubtless connected with the great changes in London life which followed the Restoration of Charles II, two years earlier. Chetwind apparently intended to reprint the text of the Second Folio, without change, and this first issue of his edition con- tains nothing except what was in the two preceding ones. Before many copies had been sold, however, he decided to in- clude seVen additional plays, which had been attributed to the same author.
RichardHawkins
No. 29
Second Folio
John Smethwick See Nos. 10&11
No. 30
Third Folio
No. 31
Third Folio
20
William Shakespeare
No. 32
Tlurd Folio
Plays publicly ascribed to Shakespeare dur- ing his lifetime
See the note to Nos. 19 and 21
Se« No. 41 London Fire
No. 33
Fourth Folio
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies \etcl\ The Third Impression. And unto this Impression is added seven Playes, never before Printed in Folio, viz. Pericles Prince of Tyre. The London Prodigall. The History of Thomas Ld. Cromivell. Sir John Oldcastle Lord Cobham. The Puritan Widow. A York-shire Tragedy. The Tragedy of Locrine. London, Printed for P. C. 1664.
The regular, second issue of the Third Folio.
Pericles is the only one of the plays here admitted to the Shakespeare Canon which later scholars have accepted as in any important degree his work. The earlier separate editions of this play, which had his name on the titles, are described as nos. 6 and 7. Apparently Chetwind's first intention was to add only this one play to his edition, as it has a separate pagination from that of the six following plays.
Sir John Oldcastle and A Yorkshire Tragedy had been printed in 1619, with the date of the original editions of 1600 and 1608, and with Shakespeare's name on the titles. The London Prodigall may have been overlooked by Pavier in that year, for the first edition of this play had appeared in 1605, with Shakespeare's name in full.
The earlier separate editions of the other three plays all claimed to be " written by W.S." The Lamentable Tragedy of Locrine in 1595 professed to be " Newly setfoorth, overseene and corrected, by W. S." Thomas Lord Cromwell was first printed in 1602, and The Puritaine or the Widow of Watling Streete in 1607.
In 1666, a great part of central London, where most of the booksellers had their stalls and shops, was destroyed by fire. This probably explains why the Third Folio is much rarer than the others. It is estimated that about half of the edition was burned.
Mr. William Shakespears Comedies [etc.'] Unto which is added, Seven Plays, Never before Printed in Folio: viz. [etc.'] The Fourth Edition. London, Printed for H. Herringman, and are to be sold by Joseph Knight and Francis Saunders, at the Anchor in the Lower Walk of the New Exchange, 1685.
The earlier issue of the Fourth Folio.
This edition was copied from the Third Folio, even the title-
Apocrypha
2 I
page repeating the statement about the Added Plays, which was true in 1664, but not in 1685.
This edition shows the first departure from the usual spelling of the author's name, in any of the books containing his own works included in this exhibition.
Mr. William SJiakespears Comedies \etcJ] London, Printed for H. Herringman, E. Brews tert R. Chiswell, and R. Bentley, at the Anchor in the New Exchange ; and at the Crane > and Rose and Crown in St. Pauls Church-Yard, and in Russ el- Street Covent-Garden, 1685.
The later issue of the Third Folio, in its original binding. Sir Philip Sidney's copy, from the MacGeorge collection. The other copy of this edition came from George Daniels' library.
Several plays besides those already mentioned were ascribed to Shakespeare by booksellers or by current report during his lifetime. These are interesting evidence of the value of his name, and of a readiness on the part of the public to think of him as the most likely author of a dramatic work, during his own time and for two generations after.
The Merry Devill of Edmonton. As it hath beene sundry times Acted, by his Maiesties Servants, at the Globe, on the banke-side. London, Printed by Henry Bollard for Arthur Johnson. 1608.
The First Edition. Three other copies are recorded. The play was ascribed to Shakespeare on the Stationers' Register in 1653. Reprinted in 1612, 1617, 1626, 1631 and 1655.
The Merry Devil of Edmonton. London, Printed for William Gilbertson, 1655.
The Lamentable and True Tragedie of M. Arden of Feversham in Kent. Imprinted at London for Edward White. 1592. The First Edition. Two other copies are recorded.
The Spelling of Shakespeare's name
No. 34 No. 36
Third Folio
Apocrypha
See King John, I No. 14; Yorkshire Tragedy and Oldcastle, Nos. 19 and 21
No. 36
Merry Devil
No. 37
Merry Devil
No. 2
Arden
22
William Shakespeare
No. 39
Mucedorus
A most pleasant Comedie of Mucedorus the Kings Sonne of Valencia, and Amadine the Kinges daughter of Aragon. As it was acted before the Kings Maiesty, at White-hall on Shrove-Sunday night. By his Highnesse Servants, usually play- ing at the Globe. Very delectable, and full of conceited Mirth. Imprinted at London by N. O. for William Jones, 1615. The Sixth Edition.
A few lines in this play have been attributed to Shakespeare. None of his real works approached this in popularity with con- temporary readers, if the number of editions is a test. It was printed first in 1598, and again in 1606, 1610, 1611, 1613, 1615, 1618, 1619, 1621, 1626, [1629?], 1631,1634, 1639, 1663, 1668, and once without date in the seventeenth century, according to the compilers of the Church Library Catalogue.
No. 40
Mucedorus
No. 41
Puritan Widow
See No. 32
The Poet
But See the Note to No. 56
TheSonnetswere first printed in 1609, fifteen years after they were written
A most pleasant Comedie of Mucedorus.
Printed for John Wright, 1626. The Tenth Edition.
London,
The Puritaine or The Widdow of Watling-streete. Acted by the Children of Paules. Written by W. S. Imprinted at London by G. Eld, 1607. The First, and only Edition before the Folio of 1664, in which
it was included among the added plays.
Shakespeare attracted the attention of his literary contemporaries as a poet, before he became known as a playwright. Venus and Adonis was his first pub- lished work, in 1593 ; and this was followed within a year by The Rape of Lucrece. Both were dedicated, over his own name, to Henry Wriothesley, Earl of Southampton, the patron to whom he was most largely indebted for his establishment as a favorite with the literary coterie at Queen Elizabeth's court.
These two poems, as well as the Sonnets, were repeatedly quoted and referred to by other writers during the author's lifetime.
|
The |
Poet |
23 |
Venus and Adonis [Probably Imprinted at London by Richard Field, 1595.]
The Third Edition, of which this is the only recorded copy. The first edition in small octavo size.
This is a fragment, lacking the title and other leaves. A comparison with the text of other editions shows that this comes between the second edition, 1594, and that of 1596. It is in a contemporary binding with other tracts, all of which were dated 1595, so it seems safe to assign it to that year.
The early popularity of Venus and Adonis is shown both by the number of editions and by the very few copies that have survived, many of which, like the present one, were evidently read to pieces.
The poem was first printed, in quarto, in. 1593, and again in 1594. One copy of the first and three of the second are known. This is the only remnant left of the third edition. It was re- printed, in this octavo size, in 1596 (2 copies); 1599 (i copy, dis- covered in 1867) ; probably in 1600 (i copy lacking the title- page) ; 1602 (perhaps twice in this year, 3 copies) ; 1617 (i copy) ; 1620 (i copy) ; 1627 (at Edinburgh, 2 copies) ; 1630 (two editions, i copy of each) ; 1636 (2 copies, one of which is in the exhibi- tion) ; and 1675 (2 copies, one of which has been lost since 1864).
Venus and Adonis. London, Printed by J, H. and to be sold by Francis Coules. 1636.
The Thirteenth Edition. The other recorded copy is in the British Museum.
The Rape of Lucrece by Mr. William Shakespeare. Newly Revised. London. Printed by R. B. for John Harrison and are to be sold at his shop at the golden Unicorne in Pater-noster Row, 1632.
The Seventh Edition.
The binding of red morocco is by Lortic freres. Four other copies of this edition are recorded.
Lucrece was first printed in quarto in 1 594, and ten copies of this edition have survived. The second edition was published in 1598, in small octavo, and only one copy of this is known. It was reprinted in 1600 (one perfect copy) ; 1607 (2 copies) ; 1616 (4 copies); 1624 (6 copies); 1632 (5 copies) ; and 1655 (5 copies with the frontispiece portrait by Faithorne, and a number with- out this).
No. 42
Venus and Adonis
Nos. 59-62
The first work of Shakespeare printed outside of London
No. 43
Venus and Adonis
No. 44
Lucrece
William Shakespeare
No. 45
Poems
Portrait
No. 46
Poems
Charles Lamb copy
Source Books
No. 55
Poems : Written by WiL Shake-spearc r, Gent. Printed at London by Tho. Cotes, and are to be sold by John Benson, dwelling in St. Duns tans Church- yard. 1640. First collected Edition. In its original brown leather binding.
This volume is a compilation, containing most of Shake- speare's Sonnets and shorter poems, together with verses by Ben Jonson, Beaumont, Fletcher, Milton and others.
The frontispiece by William Marshall is the second engraved portrait. It was copied from the Droeshout engraving in the First or Second Folio. See the last note to No. 26.
Shakespeare's Poems. London. Printed by J. Darby in Bartholomew Close, for E. Curie, K. Sanger andj. Pemberton. 1714.
The notes on the margins and fly-leaves of this copy are in Charles Lamb's handwriting.
The books which Shakespeare may have used in writing his dramas, or which may have exerted an influence upon him, divide themselves into three groups. There are a few works which it is certain that he used, because, as from Holinshed's Chronicle, he put into the mouths of his characters speeches of considerable length quoted directly from this source.
A much larger group includes the books which he must in all probability have read. Some of these were written by friends or rivals and can hardly have failed to come into the hands of an active, interested citizen of London, whose business was with the stage and its audiences.
There is a vast number of works, in all the Euro- pean languages, in which students of Shakespeare's writings have found what seemed to the finder a source for some idea or scene or phrase or word-usage. If Shakespeare's writing had been something different from popular plays, if he had done something different from the portrayal of universal human emotions in language universally comprehensible, the results of
Source Books
such researches would throw more light than they do upon William Shakespeare's mind and art. There are few books of this character in the present exhibition, although the collection from which it is drawn con- tains a considerable proportion of those to which scholars have made significant references.
Quae hoc volumine continentur. Ovidii Metamorphos- eon Libri quindecim. Venetiis in Aedibus Aldi, MDII.
Shakespeare, according to Ben Jonson, knew " small Latin and less Greek," but his plays repeatedly reflect familiarity with passages in Ovid, and some of the plots were almost certainly drawn directly from the Metamorphoses.
It is likely that his own copy of Ovid was one printed at the press of Aldus in Venice. The Bodleian Library at Oxford possesses the copy of this 1502 edition, with Shakespeare's initials in what is believed to be his handwriting, on the title- page.
There are a few other books which contain what appears to be Shakespeare's autograph. Unfortunately, the skill with which his signature has been forged, especially by William Henry Ireland at the end of the eighteenth century, throws considerable doubt upon the authenticity of all of these.
A brefe Chronycle concerning the examination and death of the Blessed Martir of Christ, Sir John Oldcastell the Lord Cobham, collected together by Johan Bale, [at end] Imprinted at London, by Anthony Scoloker, and Willid Seres Dwelling wythout Alder sgate. Printed about 1550.
Shakespeare's character of Falstaff was apparently first called Oldcastle. It is supposed that objections were made to this use of the name, probably by his descendant, the eighth Lord Cob- ham, and that the playwright made such amends as he could in the line, " Oldcastle died a Martyr, and this is not the man."
A secondary result was the play of Sir John Oldcastle, which attempts to vindicate the hero. To this, by a further association of inaccurate ideas, Shakespeare's name was attached when Pavier included it in his venture of 1619.
The picture of Sir John on the title of this tract seems to represent the original, and traditional, Falstaffian character.
No. 47.
Ovid, Metamor- phoses
I Qvattro Libri diSarava, Vepice, 1565
Ras tail's Statutes, 1598 See No. 73
No. 48 Oldcastle
Falstaff
See No. 21
26
William Shakespeare
No. 49
Peacham
No. 60
Gale's Surgery
No. 51
Udall's Terence
No. 52
Apuleius
No. 53
Fortescue
The Garden of Eloquence Conteyning the Figures of Grammer and Rhetorick, from which maye bee gathered all manner of Flowers, Coulors, Orna- ments, Exornations, Formes and Fashions of speech, very profitable for all those that be studious. Set foorth in Englishe, by Henry Peacham Min- ister. Anno 1577. Imprinted in Fleete streete, beneath the Conduite, at the Signe of Saint John Evangelist, by H. Jackson.
The First Edition.
This is a book that would doubtless have been used by Shakespeare if he had written his plays the way many teachers try to read them.
Certaine Workes of Chirurgerie, newlie compiled and published by Thomas Gale, Maister of Chirur- gerie. London Printed by Thomas East, dwelling betweene Paules Wharfe and Bainards Castle. 1586.
A copy of this work is known to have been in use at Stratford in Shakespeare's time.
Flour es of Latine speakyng selected and gathered out of Terence, and the same translated into englyshe, compiled by Nicolas Udall, Newly corrected and imprinted. Anno 1560. A popular book in Shakespeare's schooldays.
The. XI. Bookes of the Golden Asse. Translated out
of Latine into Englishe by William Adlington.
Imprinted by William How, for Abraham Veale.
1571.
The copy in the British Museum is said to be the only other
one known of this edition.
The Foreste or Collection of Histories, no lesse profit- able, then pleasant, and necessarie, dooen out of Frenche into Englishe, by Thomas Fortescue. Im- printed by John Kyngston, for Wylliam Jones. 1571.
Source Books
27
The French Schoole-maister , wherin is most plainly shewed, the true and most perfect way of pro- nouncinge of the Frenche tongue, by M. Claudius Hollybande. Imprinted by William How, for Abraham Veale. 1573. The First Edition.
The Firste (& Laste) volume of the Chronicles of Eng- land, Scotlande and Irelande. Imprinted for Lucas Harrison. 1577. The First Edition.
Shakespeare derived much of his knowledge of English history from these volumes. On page 243 of the Chronicles of Scotland is a picture of Macbeth meeting the weird sisters.
Florios Second Frutes, of divers but delightsome tastes to the tongues of Italians and Englishmen. Lon- don Printed for Thomas Woodcock, dwelling at theBlack-beare. 1591. The First Edition.
There is ample evidence that Shakespeare and Florio, both of whom were patronized by the Earl of Southampton, were well acquainted.
The complimentary sonnet, " Phaeton to his Friend Florio," is thought to have been written by Shakespeare. If it was, this was the poet's first printed work.
Willobie his Avisa or The true Picture of a Modest Maide. Imprinted by John VVindet, 1609.
The Third Edition.
The first edition, printed in 1 594, contained the earliest printed allusion to Shakespeare by name in the line:
" And Shake-speare paints poore Lucrece rape."
The author, Henry Willoughby, which may be a pseudonym, also speaks of " W. S." as his familiar friend.
The Tragedie of Antonie. Done into Englishe by the Countesse of Pern broke. Imprinted at London for William Ponsonby. 1595. The First separate Edition.
An imperfect copy of this poem is the first piece in the volume which contains the unique Venus and Adonis, described as No. 42.
No. 54
Hollyband
No. 55
Holinshed
No. 56
Florio
Shakespeare's First Printed Work
No. 67
Willoughby Avisa, 1594
First Allusion to Shakespeare
No. 58
Mary Sidney
No. 59
28
William Shakespeare
No. 60
Daniel's Delia
No. 61
Richard Barn- field; Cynthia
No. 62
Spenser's Amoretti
No. 63
Thomas Lodge's Rosalynde
No. 64
Dowland's
Ayres
No. 65
Reynolds' Stage-Playes
Delia and Rosamond augmented. Cleopatra. By Samuel Daniell. Printed for S. Water son, dwell- ing in Paules Church-yard, at the signe of the Crowne. 1595. The Fourth Edition. In the Venus and Adonis volume.
These Sonnets, which were first printed in 1592, were dedicated to the Countess of Pembroke; see Nos. 58 and 66.
Cynthia. With Certaine Sonnets, and the Legend of Cassandra. Printed for Humfrey Lownes, at the West doore of Paules. 1595. In the Venus and Adonis volume.
Amoretti and Epithalamion. Written not long since by Edmunde Spenser. Printed for William Pon- sonby. 1595.
The First Edition.
In the Venus and Adonis volume.
Rosalynde. Euphues Golden Legacie Fetcht from the Canaries by T. L. Gent. Printed for N. Lyng, and T. Gabbins. 1596.
The Third Edition. The first was published in 1590. As You Like It, probably written in the autumn of 1599, is "a dramatic adaptation of this pastoral romance."
The First Booke of Songes or Ayres of fowre partes with Tableture for the Lute : Composed by John Dow- land Lutenist. Printed by Peter Short, dwelling on Bredstreet hill at the sign of the Starr e, 1597. Dowland was mentioned in The Passionate Pilgrime : " If Musicke and sweet Poetrie agree, Dowland to thee is deere, whose heavenly tuch Upon the Lute, dooth ravish humane sense." The music is arranged on the page so that it can be read by the singers standing on three sides of the open book.
Th' overthrow of Stage-play es, By the way of contro- versie betwixt D. Gager and D. Rainoldes, where- in all the Reasons that can be made for them are notably refuted; 1599. The First Edition.
Source Books
29
The Countesse of Pembrokes Arcadia. Written by Sir Philip Sidney Knight. Now for the third time published, with sundry new additions. Lon- don. Imprinted for William Ponsonbie. 1598.
The Third Edition.
Edmund Malone's copy.
Sidney's sister, the Duchess of Pembroke, was the mother of the "Incomparable Paire of Brethren," William and Philip Herbert, to whom the First Folio was dedicated, because they " have been pleas'd to thinke these trifles (the plays) some-thing, heeretofore ; and have prosequuted both them, and their Authour, living, with so much favour."
The portrait of William Herbert, Third Earl of Pembroke, was engraved by Lucas Vorsterman, probably not long before the Earl's death in 1630. The portrait of his brother Philip, which is dated 1630, is mentioned in a note to No. 98.
Englands Parnassus: or The choysest Flowers of our Moderne Poets, with their Poeticall comparisons. Imprinted for N.L. C.B. and Th. Hayes. 1600. Shakespeare contributed 91 of the 2350 extracts in this dictionary of quotations. Two-thirds of these are from Venus and Adonis, or Lucrece; nearly half the others from Romeo and Juliet; the remainder from Richard II, Richard II 7, Henry IV, part I, and Love's Labor's Lost.
The Civile Wares betweene the Houses of Lancaster and Yorke corrected and continued by Samuel Daniel. Printed by Simon Water sonne, 1600. This edition is not mentioned in Dr. Grosart's reprint, for the
Spencer Society, in 1885. First printed in 1595, and with additions
in 1599.
A Declaration of the Practices and Treasons attempted and committed by Robert late Earle of Essex and his Complices, against her Maiestie. Imprinted by Robert Barker, 1601.
Essex, Southampton and their fellow-conspirators paid one of the actors in Shakespeare's company to arrange a performance of Richard 77, with the deposition scene, on February 7, 1601, the day preceding the projected uprising.
No. 66
Sidney's Arcadia
Shakespeare's acquaintance with Sidney's family
No. 67
No. 68
No. 69
Robert Allot's England's Par- nassus
No. 70
Daniel's Civil Wars
No. 71
Essex Conspiracy
See No. S
William Shakespeare
No. 72
Essex's Apologie Published by Lord Bacon
No. 73
Florio's Montaigne
See No. 47
No. 74
England's Mourning Garment
No. 75
Dekker
An Apologie of the Earle of Essex, against those which jealously and maliciously tax him to be the hin- der er of the peace and quiet of his country. Penned by himself in Anno 1598. Imprinted by Richard Bradocke, 1603.
The Essayes or Morall, Politike and Millitarie Dis- courses of Lo: Michaell de Montaigne, now done into English By John Florio. Printed by Val. Sims for Edward Blount dwelling in Paules church yard. 1603. The First Edition.
Florio's translation was quoted in The Tempest, A copy of this edition in the British Museum contains Shake- speare's name in what looks like his autograph.
Inglandes Mourning Garment'. Worne here in Mem- orie of their sacred Mistresse, Elizabeth, To which is added the true manner of her Emperiall Fu- nerall. After which foloweth the Shepheards Spring-Song, for entertainment of King James. Printed by V. S. for Thomas Millington, under saint Peters Church in Cornhil. Queen Elizabeth died March 24, 1603.
The Magnificent Entertainment: Given to King James, Queene Anne his wife, and Henry Frederick the Prince, upon the day of his Maiesties Triumphant Passage (from the Tower) through his Honour- able Citie (and Chamber) of London, being the 15. of March. 1603. With the speeches and Songes, delivered in the sever all Pageants. Tho. Dekker. Imprinted by T. C. for Tho. Man the yonger. 1604.
The Royal procession through London, on the coronation of James I., had been postponed from the previous July, on account of the plague which was prevalent in the city. During the inter- val Shakespeare's Company gave a number of performances be- fore the King and court at Hampton Court.
Shakespeare is named first in the list of the Company of Actors who received each four and a half yards of scarlet cloth, as mem- bers of the Royal household, for use on the day of this procession.
Contemporaries
Relation de la Jornada del Excmo. Condestable de Castilla, a las pazes entre Hespana y Inglaterra, que se concluyeron y firaron en Londres, por el mes de Agosto. Ano M. DC. iiii. En Anveres, 1604.
The Spanish Constable and the members of his suite who visited London in August, 1604, to ratify the treaty of peace with England, were entertained with elaborate festivities. Shakespeare and the other members of his company were specially ordered to attend at Somerset House, where the Spaniards were lodged, during the eighteen days that the mis- sion remained in London.
Seianus his Fall. Writen by Ben : Jonson. A t London Printed by G. Elide, for Thomas Thorpe. 1605.
The First Edition.
In the list of actors who took part in the first performance of this play, Shakespeare's name heads the second column.
Thorpe, a few months later, printed the first edition of Shakes- peare's Sonnets,
The Returne from Parnassus: Or The Scourge of Simony, Publiquely acted by the Students in St. Johns College in Cambridge. Printed by G. Eld, for John Wright, at Christ church Gate. 1606. The First Edition.
This college play contains numerous references to Shakespeare. In Act 4, Scene 3, which is a dialogue between two characters with the names of the two principal actors in Shakespeare's Com- pany, Burbage and Kemp, the latter remarks: "Our fellow Shakespeare put them all downe, I (/". e., Aye) and Ben Jonson too. O that Ben Jonson is a pestilent fellow, but our fellow Shakespeare hath given him a purge that made him beray his credit."
The Queenes Arcadia. A Pastorall Trage-comedie pre- sented to her Maiestie and her Ladies, by the Universitie of Oxford in Christs Church, in August last. 1605. At London. Printed by G. Eld, for Simon Waterson, 1606. The First Edition.
Bound with the 1609 edition of Pericles, No. 6. Dr. Grosart in his edition of Daniel's Works, speaks of the exemplar in the Malone collection at Oxford as "probably unique."
No. 76
Spanish Treaty
Antwerp
Juan Fernandez de Velasco
No. 77
Jonson 'sSejanus 1603
No. 78
Return from Parnassus. Probably acted in 1601
No. 79
Samuel Daniel's Queen's Arcadia
|
32 |
William Shakespeare |
|
No. 80 Chapman's Homer, 1609 |
Homer Prince of Poets: Translated according to the Greece; by Geo: Chapman. At London printed for Samuel Macham. Some writers have thought that Chapman was the rival for Southampton's favor, who is referred to in the Sonnets. |
No. 81
Histrio-Mastix
No. 82
Day's Law-tricks
No. 83
Scourge of Folly printed about 1610
No. 84
Spenser's Faerie Queen
Probably written in 1594
Dray ton's copy
No. 85
Dray ton's Poly-Olbion
Histrio-Mastix. Or, The Player Whipt. Printed for Th. Thorp. 1610.
Law-tricks or, Who would have thought it. Written by John Day. Printed for Richard More, in S. Dunstanes Church-yard in Fleete-streete. 1608.
The Scourge of Folly. Consisting of satyricall Epi- grammes, and others in honor of many noble and worthy persons of our Land. At London printed by E. A. for Richard Redmtr sould at his shop at ye west gate of Paules.
Epigram 159, on page 76, is: "To our English Terence Mr. Will : Shake-speare."
" Some say (good Will) Which I, in sport, do sing, Had'st thou not plaid some Kingly parts in sport, Thou hadst bin a companion for a King; And, beene a King among the meaner sort."
Faerie Queen; the Shepherd's Calendar, together with the other works of England's Arch Poet. Printed by H.L.for Mathew Lownes. 1611.
The Second Folio Edition.
The lines in Colin Clouts come home againe, " Whose muse, full of high thought's invention, Doth, like himselfe, heroically sound." are thought to refer to Shakespeare, under the name of " Action."
This copy belonged to Shakespeare's friend and rival dramatist, Michael Drayton.
Poly-Olbion, A Chorographicall Description of all the Tracts, Rivers, Mountains, Forests, and other Parts of this Renowned Isle of Great Britain, with intermixture of the most Remarkeable Stories, Antiquities, Wonders, &c., Divided into two bookes, the latter containing twelve Songs, never
Contemporaries
33
before Imprinted. London. Printed by H. L. for Mathew Lownes: I. Browne: I. Helme, and I. Bushie. 1613. The First Edition.
A Stratford vicar recorded the story that Drayton and Ben Jonson were guests at New Place in the spring of 1616 and " had a merry meeting," but " it seems drank too hard, for Shakespeare died of a feavour there contracted."
The Marriage of the two great Princes, Fredericke Count Palatine and the lady Elizabeth, daughter to King James and Queene Anne; upon Shrove- Sonday last. With the Showes and Fire-workes upon the Water: As also the Masks & Revells, in his Highnes Court of White- Hall. Printed by T. C. for William Barley, and are to be sold by W. Wright, at his Shop on Snow-hill, nere S. Pulchers church, at the signe of the Harrow. 1613. The Tempest was one of nineteen plays which were presented
during May, 1613, as a part of the nuptial festivities.
The Annales, or Generall Chronicle of England, begun first by Maister John Stow, and after him con- tinued by Edmond Howes, gentleman. Londini Impensis Thomae Adams. 1615.
The Workes of the most High and Mighty Prince, James, By the grace of God Kinge of Great Brit- taine. London Printed by Robert Barker & John Bill. 1616.
Shakespeare is the pre-eminent figure in English literature. For two centuries there has been an un- bjoken succession of writers, students and critics who have borne testimony to his greatness as poet and dramatist. Literary styles have changed with other fashions, but the devotees of each new vogue have found in the writings of the great Elizabethan the complete embodiment of their most cherished ideals. To one he is "the bright star of Romanti- cism," and to another the perfect realist.
No. 86
Marriage of the Princess Eliza- beth
No. 87
Stow's Chronicle
No. 88
King James's Works
Shakespeare 's acknowledged pre-eminence
34
William Shakespeare
Basse's tribute Written before 1623
Nos. 89 &
1633
No. 91
The Araignment of Women
No. 92
Bacon's
Instauratio
Shakespeare's own generation expressed its appre- ciation of him by reading his poems and plays before they became schoolroom classics and essential li- brary furnishings, and by praising him openly in print. Throughout the seventeenth century he was repeatedly spoken of in terms which match the most extravagant enthusiasm of later generations.
Shortly after the poet's death, William Basse wrote the verses which were accepted at the time as most adequately expressing the feeling of the English reading public. -They were repeatedly copied into manuscript collections of contemporary poetry, and several times printed, beginning with the first edition of John Donne's Poems, through a mistaken ascrip- tion of the authorship to him.
"Renowned Spencer lye a thought more nyghe To Learned Chaucer & rare Beaumont lye A little nearer Spencer to make roome For Shakspear in yor threefold fourfold Tombe To lodge all foure in one bedd, make a shifte Untill Doomesdaye ; For hardly will a fifte Betwixt this daye and that by Fate bee slayne For whome your Curtaines may bee drawne againe. If your precedencie in Death doth barre A fourth place in your Sacred Sepulcher Under this carved marble of thyne owne Sleepe rare Tragedian, Shakespeare sleepe alone Thy unmolested Peace, unshared Cave Possesse as Lord, not Tenant of thy Grave That unto us and others it may bee Honour hereafter to be layd by thee."
The Araignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward, and unconstant Women : Or the vanitie of them; choose you whether. Pleasant for married men, profitable for young Men, and hurtfull to none. London: Printed for Thomas Archer, at his shop in Popes-head Pal- lace, neere the Royall Exchange. 1617. The picture on the title-page illustrates the costumes of the
period.
Francisci de Verulamio Summi Angliae Cancellarij, Instauratio magna. Londini Apud Joannem Billium Typographum Regium. 1620.
Recognition
35
Francis Bacon, whose name is frequently associated with that of Shakespeare, was born January 22, 1561. His acknowledged writings are of a somewhat different literary character and style from those of the dramatist.
A Quip for an upstart courtier : or, A quaint dispute between Velvet breeches and cloth breeches. Wherein is plainely set downe the disorders in all Estates and Trades. London, printed byG. P. 1620.
Swetnam. The Woman-hater, arraigned by women.
London, Printed for Richard Meighen, and are
to be sold at his Shops at Saint Clements Church
over-against Essex House, and at Westminster
Hall. 1620.
The Third Edition; not mentioned in the list in the reprint of 1880.
The printer, Meighen, was one of the venturers in the Second Folio.
Greenes Tu quoque, or the Citie Gallant, as it hath beene divers times acted by the Queenes Maiesties Servants. Written by John Cooke Gent. Printed for Thomas Dewe in Saint Dunstans Church-yard in Fleetstreet. 1622. The portrait on the title is that of the popular comic actor,
Thomas Greene, who has been said to have come from Stratford.
The Essayes or Counsels, Civill and Morall, of Francis Lo. Verulam, Viscount St. Alban. Newly written. London, Printed by John Haviland for Hanna Barret. 1625.
The first edition to contain the fifty-eight essays, and the last printed during the author's lifetime.
Edmund Malone's copy, with manuscript annotations.
Considerations touching a Warre with Spaine. Written by the Right Honourable Francis Lo. Verulam. Imprinted 1629.
loannis Seldeni I. C. de Dis Syris Syntagmata II. Lugduni Batavarum [Leyden] Ex Officina Bon- aventurae & AbrahamiElsevir. 1629. The name and motto on the tide-page are in the autograph of Ben Jonson.
No. 93
Quip for a Courtier
No. 94
Joseph Swetnam
See No. 27
No. 96 Greene's Tu quoque
No. 96
Bacon's Essays
No. 97
Bacon's War with Spain
No. 98
Ben Jonson 's copy of Selden's Dis Syris
William Shakespeare
No. 99
Brath wait's English Gentle-
No. 100 Philip Herbert' copy of Stow's London
See No. 66
No. 68
No. 101
Bacon's Life and Death
No. 102
Bacon's Advancement of Learning
See No. 45
The English Gentleman: Containing Sundry excellent Rules or exquisite Observations, tending to direc- tion of every Gentleman, of selecter ranke and qualitie; By Richard Brathwait. Printed by John Haviland, and are to be sold by Robert Bostock at his shop at the signe of the Kings Head in Pauls Church-yard. 1630. The First Edition, in its original binding. Brathwait protested against the persistent vogue of Venus
and Adonis.
The Survey of London : Contayning The Originall, In- crease, Moderne Estate, and Government of that City, Methodically set downe. Begunne first by the paines and industry of John Stow, in the yeere 1598. Printed by Elizabeth Pur slow, and are to be sold by Nicholas Bourne, at his Shop at the South Entrance of the Royall Exchange. 1633.
The notes on the fly-leaves and margins are believed to be in the handwriting of Philip Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, one of the two brothers to whom the First Folio was dedicated.
The portrait of Philip Herbert as Earl of Montgomery, shown alongside the dedication to the Folio editions, was engraved by Vorsterman and Webb in 1630. Later in this year he succeeded his brother William as Earl of Pembroke.
The Historie of Life and Death Written by the Right Honourable Francis Lo: Verulam. Printed for Humphrey Mosley at the Princes A rmes in Paules Church-yard. An: 1638.
Of the Advancement and Proficience of Learning Writ- ten in Latin by the Most Eminent Illustrious & Famous Lord Francis Bacon Interpreted by Gil- bert Wats. Oxford. Printed by Leon: Lichfield, Printer to the University, for Rob : Young & Ed. Forrest. 1640. The title and portrait were engraved by William Marshall,
who engraved the portrait for the Shakespeare's Poems printed
the same year.
Recognition
37
Bacon's signature is shown on an official letter addressed by the Lords of the Council to the Earl of Northumberland, dated October 25, 1620, concerning England's contribution toward the wars in Germany. The other signers are Baron Carew of Clop- ton and Earl of Totnes, George Abbot, Archbishop of Canter- bury, the Earl of Pembroke, Sir Robert Naunton, Lord Lennox, and the Bishop of Winchester.
The Workes of Benjamin Jonson. London: Printed by Richard Bishop, and are to be sold by Andrew Crooke, in St. Paules Church-yard. 1640.
Shakespeare's name occurs in the lists of actors who presented several of these plays.
EIKONOKAA2TH2 In Answer to a Book IntitVd E'IK&N BA2IAIKH', The Portrature of his Sacred Majesty in his Solitudes and Sufferings. The Author I. M. London, Printed by Matthew Simmons, next dore to the gilded Lyon in Alders- gate street. 1649.
The statement that Shakespeare was " the Closet Companion of these his solitudes," referring to King Charles I, is on page n.
The King's copy of the Second Folio, of 1632, is now in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle. The copy of the same edition which belonged to his son, Charles II, is in the British Museum.
Theatrum Poetarum, or a compleat Collection of the Poets, Especially The most Eminent, of all Ages. Together with a Prefatory Discourse By Edward Phillips. London, Printed for Charles Smith, at the Angel near the Inner Temple-Gate in Fleet- Street. 1675.
On page 194 is the account of " Shakespcar, the Glory of the English Stage; whose nativity at Stratford upon Avon, is the highest honour that town can boast of."
No. 103
Bacon 's Signature
No. 104
Ben Jonson 's Works
No. 105
Milton on Charles I
No. 106
Phillips.'
Theatrum
Poetarum
LI>21-100W.7,'39(402S)
iRARIES
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY