442
NOTES AND QUERIES. [9 th s. XIL DEC. 5, 1903.
SHAKESPEARIAN CRITICS.
SHERIDAN says in 'The Critic, 3 "Where they do agree on the stage, their unanimity is wonderful." The Shakespearian critics may occasionally be excluded from the application of the Sheridan dictum. The other night ] took up for the purpose of reference 'The Shakespeare Manual,' by Mr. F. G. Fleay, and came upon a few statements which I venture to place in comparison with several made by Mr. Sidney Lee in his ' Life of Shakespeare.'
Mr. Fleay :
"At! quartos issued up to the date of 1600
were authorized, and in my opinion superintended, by Shakespeare himself."
Mr. Lee :
" Of the sixteen plays of his that were published in his lifetime, not one was printed with his sanction."
Mr. Fleay :
"/ have little doubt that the early 'Hamlet' of 1589 was written by Shakespeare and Marlowe in conjunction."
Mr. Lee :-
"The story of the Prince of Denmark had been popular on the stage as early as 1589 in a lost dramatic version by another writer, doubtless Thomas Kt/d."
Mr. Fleay :
"I have, however, given reasons for supposing that Jonson either revised the play [' Julius Cajsar '] or superintended its revision." "
Mr. Lee :-
"As the author of 'Julius Caesar' he [Shake- speare] had just proved his command of topics that were peculiarly suited to Jonson's vein, and had in fact outrun his churlish comrade on his own ground."
Mr. Fleay says that Jonson " revised " or "superintended the revision" of the play, and Heminge and Condell, the editors of the First Folio, maintain that the plays are "now offered to your view cur'd, and perfect of their limbes, and all the rest, absolute in their numbers as he [Shakespeare] conceived them."
Mr. Fleay :-
"Excepting the surreptitious 'Henry V.,' every play printed in quarto before 1000 was admitted as an authentic copy by the Folio editors."
Mr. Lee :
"It is doubtful if any play were printed exactly as it came from his pen. The First Folio text is often markedly inferior to that of the sixteen pre- existent quartos."
There are three Quartos of '2 Henry VI ' dated 1594, 1600, and 1619. So far from "every play printed in quarto before 1600
being admitted as an authentic copy by the
Folio editors," the Folio version of this play
contains 1,139 lines not in the 1619 or pre-
vious Quartos of 1594 and 1600, with nearly
2,000 lines retouched. By whom were these
additions made 1 ? In the 1619 edition we
have four lines :
Kent, in the ' Commentaries ' Caesar wrote, Term'd it the civil'st place of all this land. Then, noble countrymen, hear me but speak : I sold not France, I lost npt Normandy.
In the Folio edition this is augmented to :
Kent, in the 'Commentaries' Csesar writ, Is termed the civil'st place in all this isle. Sweet is the country, because full of riches, The people liberal, valiant, active, wealthy, Which makes me hope you are not void of pity. I sold not Maine, I lost not Normandy, Yet to recover these would lose my life. Justice with favour have I always done ; Prayers and tears have moved me, gifts could never. When hare I aught exacted from your hands But to maintain the king, the realm., and you ? Large gifts have I bestowed on learned clerks, Because my book preferred me to the king, And seeing ignorance is the curse of God, Knowledge the wing wherewith we fly to heaven, Unless you be possessed with devilish spirits, You cannot but forbear to murder me.
By whom was this introduced into the Folio? I have an idea that Bacon's "fall" took place between 1619 and 1623, and the lines (notably those italicized) fit into his altered circumstances with some degree of consistence.
Mr. Fleay :
" It is to be hoped that these two great dramatists- [Shakespeare and Jonson] were not at open enmity during the latter part of Shakespeare's life, but all record of any real friendship between them ends in 1603."
Mr. Lee :
" There can be no doubt that Jonson cherished genuine esteem and affection for Shakespeare till death/'
More than "doctors" seem to "differ."
GEORGE STKONACH.. Edinburgh.
BURTON'S ' ANATOMY OF MELANCHOLY/
(See 9 th S. xi. 181, 222, 263, 322, 441 ; xii. 2, 62,
162, 301, 362.)
VOL. i. (Shill.) 14, n. 3 (3, n. c, ed. 6), "in Theset. An error of Lipsius, copied by Burton, unconnected by Shilleto. The right reference is 'Anterastse' ('Ki vales'), 136A. See the original Greek in Lipsius, 'Manud. Stoic. Phil.,' iii. 8.
P. 21, n. 8 (7, n. f, ed. 6), 'Epist. ad Petas.' (sic ed. 4, ed. 6 ; A. R. S., rightly r
