in. JUNE s, 1905.] NOTES AND QUERIES.
439
Specimens of the Elizabethan Drama from Lylt/ to
Shirley, A.I>. 1580-A.D. 1642. By W. H. Wil-
liams, M.A. (Oxford, Clarendon Press.)
WE have here a capital idea, admirably carried
out. The book, which reaches ua from Tasmania,
is intended to be supplementary to that of Lamb,
after whom, as Prof. Williams says, it is difficult
to glean. We should personally class Suckling as
the last of the Elizabethan dramatists, and did so
in extracts which we made half a century ago,
partly for personal gratification and partly with
an idea of publishing a work kindred with this.
Shirley has always been regarded as the last of the
great dramatists and so in a sense he is. Suckling
is, however, touched to finer issues. His period is
easily comprised within that of Shirley, who
survived him a score years, and his death in 1642
virtually coincided with that of the Elizabethan
drama. At the period when our own close studies
of the drama were followed many of the great
writers were only accessible in the original
editions, though Dyce had rendered fine service.
The labours, no less important, of Mr. Bullen had
yet to be undertaken, and the great series of dra-
matic reprints begun by the University Presses
were leagues away. Of these publications, so far
as they have extended, Prof. Williams has made
use ; though he, too, in the case of men such as
Rowley, Munday, and Chettle, has had to turn to
the original editions. It is obviously intended by
us for compliment when we say that scores of the
passages still accessible to us in our own note-
books are to be found in the present collection.
Large as it is (and it occupies some 600 pages), the
work is not exhaustive ; it is not, indeed, designed
to be so. We might almost ask, as Sheridan is
(falsely, it may be supposed) reported to have done
on being shown Dodd's ' Beauties of Shakespeare ' :
" This is all very well, but where are the other
eleven volumes?" The selection is made with
taste and judgment, and illustrates excellently
many aspects of the writers included, especially the
Eoetical. Though most of the leading dramatists ave been issued in complete editions, some of them notably the earlier are still neglected by the present generation. Students of this volume will soon see how much amusement is to be derived from Lyly, how much beauty to be found in Peele. Beaumont and Fletcher, even of whose works two editions, for both of which there is room, are promised is a mine almost unworked by the general labourer. To be ignorant of ' The Faithful Shepherdess,' ' The Maid's Tragedy,' and
- Philaster ' is unpardonable : but the great quarry
of their writings is virtually unexplored. Pleasant preliminary information is supplied in the case of each writer, a valuable index is added, and useful notes show a wide range of reading. Every student is bound to aim at the possession of complete editions of men such as Marlowe. Webster, and Ford. Time will doubtless bring us trustworthy editions of Heywood, Dekker, and Chapman. Many other dramatists are within reach. To those who do not possess the collected works of Elizabethan writers the present volume will be found opulent in delight, and those who do will be tempted to linger over its fascinating pages. Wisely, as we think, Prof. Williams holds Shake- speare outside his scheme, and does not include the passages selected by Lamb. We will not ask again for eleven more volumes ; for one more, however, we will plead.
BOOKSELLERS' CATALOGUES. JUNE.
THE Antiquarian Book Company have some in- teresting autograph letters. One from Alexander Smith, in which he writes, on 6 October, 1856, off Aytpun's ' Bothwell,' "A clear case of literary suicide. The Professor has cut his throat from ear
to ear He is a great fellow, Aytoun, and I wislu
he had made a better appearance," is priced 10-* GcL In another George Giltillan, Dundee, 6 Jan., 1855, writes to a young poet : " I had to struggle on for years with a restive congregation, an unsympathising
town I laboured hard Do not be iu a great,
hurry to print" (6s. 6d.).
Mr. B. H. Blackwell, of Oxford, has many fresh purchases. Under Antiquarian we find Prof. G. Stephens's 'Old Northern Runic Monuments of " Scandinavia,' 3 vols. folio, 3/. 15s. There are inter- esting items under Art and Architecture, Bio- graphy, and Folk-lore. Under History are a copy of Whitcombe and Sutherland's 'Naval Achieve- ments,' 12^. 12-s. ; Rawlinson's 'Monarchies of the- Ancient Eastern World,' 6 vols., 71. Is. and Scot- tish History Society, 15 vols., 11. Is. There are- many books from the library of the late Prof. Free- man (some of these contain his autograph), also from/ the library of the late Rev. Albert Watson. Among these are several of the Daniel Press, including Bridges's 'Poems,' 4/. 12s. 6d. ; Keats, '21. Is. Qd.t and 'Our Memories,' a beautiful copy, bound in olive-green morocco, 6V. 6*. This contains remi- niscences by W. Tuck well, C. W. Boase, G. A. Denison, F. W. Newman, G. Rawlinson, and J. R. Bloxam.
The catalogue of Mr. \Yilliam Brown, of Edin- burgh, is specially interesting, and is indeed full of treasures. We can make note of only a few, such, as a complete set of the Baunatyne Club Publi- cations, 166 vols., 225/. ; a copy of the rare first edition of the first English translation of the- ' Decameron.' 457. ; a complete set of the " Goupil English Biographies," Hot. ; the first edition of 'Endymion,' 78/. 10-s. ; a set of the 'Muse Francais et Musee Royal,' SQL ; Mrs. Bray's ' Life of Stot- hard,' extended to 3 vols. by the addition of over 600 engravings, 321. 10s.; and the first edition of Burton's ' Anatomy of Melancholy,' 48/. A copy of Burns's Poems, 2 vols., 1793, annotated by the poet, is priced 187^- At the poem 'On a Scotch Bard going to the West Indies,' he writes, "This was written when I was preparing for Jamaica." Among the autographs are letters of Charles II., Walter Scott, Burns, and Charlotte Bronte. These are all long and important ones.
Mr. F. S- Cleaver, of Bath, has a catalogue of general literature, including a special list of Theology.
Mr. J. G. Commin, of Exeter, has many items of interest in his list No. 214. Among these we note Stedmau and Hutchinson's 'American Literature,' 21. 18s. (published at 111. Us.) ; a choice set of Bewick's ' Birds ' and ' Quadrupeds,' largest paper, Newcastle, 1805-7, 10J. 10-*. ; and Blake's ' Book of Job,' proof impressions, 18/. 10s. A copy of the ' Pilgrim's Progress,' Utrecht, 1684, is priced at 51. 5s. This is the first and exceedingly rare translation into Dutch. A complete set of McLean &, Miller's ' Costume of Various Countries,' 1804-18, is 10/. 10-$. (original cost 691.): first edition of Dickens's 'Grimaldi,' 51. 18>\ ; a handsome set of
