Kitabı oku: «Notes and Queries, Number 43, August 24, 1850», sayfa 3
QUERIES
WHO WROTE SHAKSPEARE'S HENRY VIII.?
I had no sooner read the title of an essay in the current number of the Gentleman's Magazine, "Who wrote Shakspeare's Henry VIII.?" than I became aware that I had been anticipated in at least the publication of a discovery I made three or four years ago, but for the making known of which a favourable opportunity had not occurred. The fact is, that I was anxious to arrive at a more satisfactory conclusion than has yet presented itself to me, and a paper on the subject commenced more than two years ago, I, with this feeling, laid aside. My present object is to strengthen the argument of the writer in the Gentleman's Magazine, by recording the fact that I, having no communication with him, or knowledge of him, even of his name, should have arrived at exactly the same conclusion as his own. That conclusion is (should any of your readers not have seen the article referred to), that Fletcher has at least an equal claim with Shakspeare to the authorship of Henry VIII.
In the unfinished paper to which I have alluded, having asked how it was that, with so much to be learned personal to Shakspeare from his works, our criticism was so limited, and having stated it to be my intention to confine myself to the simple inquiry, "What did Shakspeare really write?" I continued:
"To those who consider the text as having been settled 'by authority,' this question may seem superfluous; but, not to refer to plays of very early date, in connection with which we could bring forward facts that, we doubt not, would be considered sufficiently startling; we now state it as our belief that a great portion of the play of Henry VIII.—nay, more than half, was not written by Shakspeare."
My intention now is not to enter into any argument in support of this view, but to state the results, which will be shown in the following extract from my note-book:
Henry VIII.
So far all is clear, and in this apportionment Mr. Urban's correspondent and myself are agreed. My conviction here is as complete as it is of my own identity. But beyond, at present, all is dark; I cannot understand the arrangement; and I doubt if my friend, who has treated the question with so much ability, is altogether satisfied with his own explanation.
In the meanwhile, I would suggest one or two points for consideration. In those parts which I have set down as Shakspeare's, and in which this writer imagines he occasionally detects "a third hand," does the metre differ materially from that of Shakspeare's early plays?
It will be observed that, in Act iii., Scene 2., there are two farewells, the second being a kind of amplification of the first; both, however, being in the part which I ascribe to Fletcher. Is it not probable that these were written at different periods? And supposing Fletcher to have improved his part, might there not originally have been a stronger analogy than now appears between this play and the Two Noble Kinsmen?
The more it is tested the brighter shines out the character of Shakspeare. The flatteries of James and Elizabeth may now go packing together. The following four lines which I have met with in no other edition of Shakspeare than Mr. Collier's, are worth any one of his plays for their personal value; they show how he could evade a compliment with the enunciation of a general truth that yet could be taken as a compliment by the person for whom it was intended:
Shakspeare on the King.
"Crowns have their compass; length of days their date;
Triumphs, their tomb; felicity her fate;
Of nought but earth can earth make us partaker,
But knowledge makes a king most like his Maker."
Samuel Hickson.
August 12. 1850.
MINOR QUERIES
The Abbé Strickland.—In the third volume of the Castlereagh Correspondence, an Abbé Strickland figures as a negotiator between the English Catholics and the court of Rome. His name is also mentioned unfavourably in the "Quarterly" review of that work. Will some of your readers direct me where further information can be had of him, and his ultimate destination?
J.W.H.
Aerostation, Works on.—Will you have the goodness to inquire for me among your readers and contributors, for the titles of any works on—or references to good articles in encyclopaedias or dictionaries on—or for remarkable isolated passages relating to—Aerostation, or the arts of, or attempts at, flying, either by means of mechanical wings, &c., or by the aid of balloons.
C.B.M.
Pilgrims' Road to Canterbury.—Can any of the readers of "Notes and Queries" point out the route which was pursued by Chaucer and his fellow-travellers on the pilgrimage which his genius has immortalised? Is the route of the old pilgrims' road laid down upon any early maps? (it is not, I believe, marked on the Ordnance Survey;) and would it be possible to traverse it at the present time? Any hints upon these points, and any references to objects of interest on the line of road inquired after, will be thankfully received by
Philo-Chaucer.
"Ædricus qui signa fundebat."—In a chronicle of Battel Abbey, compiled in the twelfth century, there is a list of the abbey's tenants in the town of Battel. Among many such names as Gilbertus Textor, Godwinus Cocus, Rotbertus filius Siflet, Rotbertus de Havena, I find that of "Ædricus qui signa fundebat." As this phrase is susceptible of several widely different renderings, I shall be grateful to any of your ingenious readers who will give me their opinions as to its actual meaning. I may add that Ædric was living about the year 1170, so that the phrase can have no reference to events connected with the battle of Hastings.
M.A. Lower.
Lewes, July 30. 1850.
Osmund the Waterman.—In his description of the Flowering Fern (Osmunda regalis), Mr. Newman observes, that "the rhizoma [root-stock], when cut through, has a whitish centre or core, called by old Gerarde in his Herbal, 'the heart of Osmund the waterman.' My lore is insufficient to furnish my readers with the history of the said Osmund." (History of British Ferns, by Ed. Newman, 2nd ed., p. 334.) Can any of your readers supply this deficiency?
J.M.B.
Logic.—What is the earliest printed book on logic? meaning the first which gives the common theory of the syllogism. Does it contain the celebrated words Barbara, Celarent, &c. The difficulty will probably arise from this, that each book has some undated editions which are probably earlier than the dated ones. Of books with dates there is the exposition of Petrus Hispanus by Joh. Versor, in 1473, and the Summulæ of Paulus Venetus, in 1474; the first I find in Hain (who had not seen it), the second I have seen. Can any one of your readers go farther back?
M.
Darvon Gatherall?—Can any reader adduce further information respecting an image, called Darvon Gatherall, brought from Wales at the Reformation, than what is mentioned in one of the treatises published by the Camden Society?
W. Bell.
Damasked Linen.—I should feel obliged for any information on the earliest specimen of tablecloths being "damasked," and the history of that manufacture. I have lately had shown me as "family curiosities" a beautiful "damask service" of Flemish or Dutch work. The centre contained a representation of St. George and the Dragon. The hero is attired in the costume of the latter part of the seventeenth century (?), with it cocked hat and plume, open sleeves and breeches, heavy shoes and spurs: with this motto in German characters over him,
[German: Ben Gott ist Rath und That,]
"With God is counsel and deed."
At each corner of the cloth and napkins is a representation of a female figure kneeling on a rock, with clasped hands, with a lamb by her side (Query, St. Agnes?) On the border, at the top and bottom, St. George is figured in armour stabbing with a spear an alligator; and then with a sword, in the act of killing a bear.
On the side borders, he is receiving the attack of a lion on his arm, covered with a mantle; and then, with a raised sword, cutting at the proboscis of an elephant. I have seen, also, an older specimen, I think, of the same manufacture; the subject being the "Bear and Ragged Staff," on alternate rows, with figures of trumpeters. I know not if this subject is of sufficient interest for your "Notes and Queries," but I trust you will make what use of it you please.
R.G.P.M.
Flourish.—We are told that a writer flourished at such and such a time. Is any definite notion attached to this word? When it is said of a century there is no difficulty; it means that the writer was born and died in that century. But when we are told that a writer flourished about the year 1328 (such limitation of florescence is not uncommon), what is then meant? What are we to understand he did in or about 1328?
M.
Drax Abbey and Free School.—Can you, or any of your intelligent contributors, direct me where I can find any records of Drax Abbey, near Selby, Yorkshire, or of the Free School in Drax, endowed by Robert Reed, whom tradition states to heave been a foundling amongst the reeds on the banks of the Ouse, about half a mile distant. Such information will place me under great obligation.
T. Dyson.
Gainsboro.
Ancient Catalogue of Books.—A few days since I made the acquisition of a curious old catalogue of books, interleaved, and containing about 200 pages, with the following title:
"Catalogus Variorum, in quavis Facultate et materia Librorum incompactum Officinæ Joannis Maire, quorum Auctio publicè habebitur in ædibus Joannis Maire, hora octavâ matutinâ et secundâ postmeridiana ad diem –, 1661. Lugduni Batavorum, ex Typographia Nicolai Herculis, 1661."
On the back is the following notice to "buyers:"
"Monitos volumus Emptores, hosce Libros eâ vendi conditione, ut cum eorum traditione pretium præsenti pecuniâ persolvatur. Et si quis Libros à se emptos intra sex septimanarum spatium, à primà Auctionis die numerandum, à Bibliopola non exegerit, eos cum emptoris prioris damno aliis vendere integrum erit ac licitum.
"Monentur etiam et rogantur, ut antè meridiem ad horæ octavæ, post meridiem vero ad secundæ punctum præsentes sese sistere dignentur."
Can any of your readers give me particulars about this John Maire?
W.J.
Havre.
