"honeft manners, dedicated ouer boldly to vertuous and honor"able perfonages, the eafelyer to beguile fimple and honest "wittes. It is pitty, that thofe which haue authoritie and charge to allow and difallow works to be printed, be no more "circumfpect herein than they are. Ten Sermons at Paules "Croffe doe not fo much good for moouing men to true doc"trine, as one of these bookes does harme with inticing men "to ill living. Yea I fay farther, these bookes tend not fo "much to corrupt honest liuing, as they doe to fubuert true religion. More papists be made by your merry bookes of Italy, " than by your earnest bookes of Louain.When the busie "and open papifts could not, by their contentious bookes, turne "men in Englande fafte inough from troth and right iudge"mente in doctrine, then the futtle and secret papists at home 66 procured bawdie bookes to be tranflated out of the Italian "toong, whereby ouermany yong willes and witts, allured to "wantonnes, doe now boldly contemne all feuere bookes that "found to honeftie and godlines. In our forefathers time, "when papistrie, as a standing poole, couered and ouerflowed all England, few bookes were red in our toong, fauyng cer"tayne Bookes of Chiualrie, as they fayd for pastime and plea"sure, which, as fome fay, were made in monafteries by idle "monkes or wanton chanons: as one for example, MORTE "ARTHUR, the whole pleasure of which booke standeth in "two specyall poyntes, in open mans flaghter and bolde baw"drie: in which booke those be counted the noblest knights that "doe kill most men without any quarrell, and commit fowleft "aduoulteries by futleft shifts: as, fyr Launcelote with the "wife of king Arthure his maister: fyr Triftram with the wife " of king Marke his vncle: fyr Lamerocke with the wife of king Lote that was his own aunte. This is good stuffe for "wife men to laughe at, or honest men to take pleasure at. "Yet I knowe when God's Bible was banished the court, and Serious books in divinity, written by the papifts. The study of controversial theo logy flourished at the university of Louvain. "MORTE 4 "MORTE ARTHUR receaued into the princes chamber. What toyes the dayly reading of fuch a booke may worke in the "will of a yong ientleman, or a yong maide, that liueth welthely and idlely, wife men can iudge, and honest men doe pittie. And yet ten MORTE ARTHURES doe not the tenth part fo much harme, as one of thefe bookes made in Italie, " and tranflated in England. They open, not fond and common "ways to vice, but fuch futtle, cunning, new and diuerfe "shifts, to carry yong willes to vanitie and yong wittes to mif"chiefe, to teache old bawdes new schoole pointes, as the fim ple head of an Englishman is not hable to inuent, nor neuer "was heard of in England before, yea when papistrie ouer"flowed all. Suffer thefe bookes to be read, and they fhall "foon displace all bookes of godly learning. For they, carrying the will to vanitie, and marring good manners, shall easily corrupt the minde with ill opinions, and falfe judgement in "doctrine: firft to thinke ill of all true religion, and at last, "to thinke nothing of God himselfe, one speciall poynt that is "to be learned in Italie and Italian bookes. And that which "is moft to be lamented, and therefore more nedefull to be "looked to, there be more of these vngracious bookes fet out "in print within these fewe moneths, than haue been seene in England many score yeares before. And because our English"men made Italians cannot hurt but certaine perfons, and in "certaine places, therefore these Italian bookes are made English, to bringe mischiefe inough openly and boldly to all "states, great and meane, yong and old, euery where. Our English men Italianated haue more in reuerence the TRI"UMPHES of Petrarche, than the GENESIS of Moyfes. They "make more accompt of Tullies Offices, than faint Paules 66 Conditions of life. • In fuch univerfal vogue were the TRIUMPHS of Petrarch, or his TRIONFI D' -- of a Tale in Boccace, than the Story of the "Bible, &c "." MASTIX. Afcham talkes here exactly in the style of Prynne's HISTRIOIt must indeed be confeffed, that by these books many pernicious obfcenities were circulated, and perhaps the doctrine of intrigue more accurately taught and exemplified than before. But every advantage is attended with its inconveniencies and abuses. That to procure translations of Italian tales was a plot of the papists, either for the purpose of facilitating the propagation of their opinions, of polluting the minds of our youth, or of diffusing a spirit of scepticism, I am by no means convinced. But I have nothing to do with the moral effects of these verfions. I mean only to fhew their influence on our literature, more particularly on our poetry, although I referve the difcuffion of this point for a future section. At present, my design is to give the reader a full and uniform view of the chief of these translations from the Italian, which appeared in England before year 1600. the I will begin with Boccace. The reader recollects Boccace's THESEID and TROILUS, many of his Tales, and large paffages from Petrarch and Dante, translated by Chaucer. But the golden mine of Italian fiction opened by Chaucer, was foon closed and forgotten. I must however premise, that the Italian language now began to grow so fashionable, that it was explained in lexicons and grammars, written in English, and with a view to the illustration of the three principal Italian poets. So early as 1550, were published, "Principal rules of the Italian grammar, with a dictionarie for the better vnderstanding of Boccase, Petrarche, "and Dante, gathered into this tonge by William Thomas.” It is dedicated to fir Thomas Chaloner, an accomplished scholar. The third edition of this book is dated in 1567. Scipio Lentulo's Italian grammar was tranflated into English in 1578, by Henry Grantham'. Soon afterwards appeared, in 1583, "CAMPO "DI FIOR, or The Flourie Field of four Languages of M. "Claudius Defainliens, for the furtherance of the learners of "the Latine, French, and English, but chieflie of the Italian tongue." In 1591, Thomas Woodcock printed, "Florio's "second frutes to be gathered of twelve trees of divers but delightfull tastes to the tongues of Italian and Englishmen. To "which is annexed a gardine of recreation yelding 6000 Italian prouerbs "." Florio is Shakespeare's Holophernes in Love's Labour Loft. And not to extend this catalogue, which I fear is not hitherto complete, any further, The ITALIAN SCHOOLEMASTER was published in 1591 *. k. But to proceed. Before the year 1570, William Paynter, clerk of the Office of Arms within the Tower of London, and who feems to have been master of the school of Sevenoaks in Kent, printed a very confiderable part of Boccace's novels. His firft collection is entitled, "The PALACE OF PLEASURE, the first volume, con"taining fixty novels out of Boccacio, London, 1566." It is dedicated to lord Warwick'. A fecond volume foon appeared, "The PALLACE OF PLEASURE the second volume containing thirty-four novels, London, 1567 "." This is dedicated to fir George Howard; and dated from his house near the Tower, as is the former volume. It would be fuperfluous to point out here the uses which Shakespeare made of these volumes, after the full investigation which his antient allufions and his plots have fo lately received. One William Painter, undoubtedly the fame, translated William Fulk's ANTIPROGNOSTICON, a treatise writ For T. Vautrollier. 8vo. But his First Frute, or, Dialogues in Italian and English, with inftruction for the Italian, appeared in 1578. His Italian dictionary, in 1595. See ACT iv. Sc. ii. VOL. III. k For Thomas Purfoot. 12mo. 1 A fecond edition was printed for H. Binneman, Lond. 1575. 4to. m A fecond edition was printed by Thomas Marsh, in octavo. Both volumes appeared in 1575. 4to. 3 N ten ten to expose the astrologers of thofe times". He also prefixed a Latin tetrastic to Fulk's original, printed in 1570°. With Painter's PALACE OF PLEASURE, we must not confound "A petite Pallace of Pettie his plefure," although properly claiming a place here, a book of stories from Italian and other writers, tranflated and collected by William Pettie, a ftu dent of Chrift-church in Oxford about the year 1576'. It is faid to contain, "manie prettie histories by him set forth in "comely colors and moft delightfully difcourfed." The first edition I have seen was printed in 1598, the year before our author's death, by James Roberts. The first tale is SINORIX AND CAMMA, two lovers of Sienna in Italy, the last ALEXIUS. Among Antony Wood's books in the Afhmolean Mufeum, is a second edition dated 1608'. But Wood, who purchased and carefully preserved this performance, folely because it was written by his great-uncle, is of opinion, that "it is now fo far "from being excellent or fine, that it is more fit to be read by a school-boy, or rufticall amoretto, than by a gentleman of mode "and language." Moft of the ftories are claffical, perhaps supplied by the English Ovid, yet with a variety of innovations, and a mixture of modern manners. n Lond. 1570. 12mo. At the end is an English tract against the aftrologers, very probably written by Painter. Edward Dering, a fellow of Chrift's college Cambridge, in a copy of recommendatory verfes prefixed to the fecond edition of Googe's Palingenius, attacks PAINTER, Lucas, and others, the abettors of Fulk's ANTIPROGNOSTICON, and the cenfurers of aftrology. In the antient registers of the Stationers company, an Almanac is ufually joined with a PROGNOSTICATION. See REGISTR. A. fol. 59. b. 61. a. In 1563, is a receipt for a licence to William Joiner for printing "The Citye of Cyvelite, tranflated into Englesfhe by "William Paynter." REGISTR A utfupr. fol. 86. b. In 1565, there is a receipt for licence to W. James to print "Serten hif toryes collected oute of dyvers ryghte good and profitable authors by William "Paynter." Ibid. fol. 134. b. The fecond part of the "Palice of Pleasure," is entered with Nicholas Englonde, in 1565. Ibid. fol. 156. a. P Entered that year, Aug. 5, to Watkins. REGISTR. STATION. B. fol. 134. a. There is an Epiftle to the Reader by R. W. In 1569, there is an entry with Richard James for printing " A ballet in"tituled Sinorix Canna and Sinnatus." REGISTR. STATION. A. fol. 191. b. In Pettie's tale, Camma is wife to Sinnatus. There was a third in 1613. By. G. Eld. Lond. 4to. Bl. Lett. ATH. OXON. i. 240. Pattie in conjunction with Bartholomew Young, tranflated the Civile Converfation of Stephen Guazzo, 1586. 4to. Painter |