poem, miffed the opportunity of introducing a most affecting scene by the natural and obvious conclufion of the story. In Luigi's novel, Juliet awakes from her trance in the tomb before the death of Romeo. From Turberville's poems printed in 1567, we learn, that Arthur Brooke was drowned in his paffage to New-haven, and that he was the author of this tranflation, which was the diftinguished proof of his excellent poetical abilities.

Apollo lent him lute for folace fake,

To found his verse by touch of stately string;
And of the neuer fading baye did make
A laurell crowne, about his browes to clinge,
In proofe that he for myter did excell,

As

may be iudge by Iulyet and her Mate;

For ther he fhewde his cunning paffing well
When he the tale to English did translate.—

Aye mee, that time, thou crooked dolphin, where
Waft thou, Aryon's help and onely stay,

That fafely him from sea to shore didst beare,

When Brooke was drownd why was thou then away ? &c ».

The enthusiasts to Shakespeare must wish to see more of Arthur Brooke's poetry, and will be gratified with the dulleft anecdotes of an author to whom perhaps we owe the existence of a tragedy at which we have all wept. I can discover nothing more of Arthur Brooke, than that he tranflated from French into English, The Agreement of fundrie places of Scripture seeming to iarre, which was printed at London in 1563. At the end is a copy of verfes written by the editor Thomas Brooke the younger, I suppose his brother; by which it appears, that the author Arthur Brooke was fhipwrecked before the year 1563. Juliet foon furnished a female name to a new novel. For in 1577,

Fol. 143. b. 144.a. Epitaph on the Death of Maifter Arthur Brooke. edit. 2. 1 2m0.1570.

i In octavo. PRINC. "Some men here"tofore haue attempted."

Hugh

Hugh Jackson printed "The renowned Hiftorie of Cleomenes " and Juliet." Unless this be Brooke's story disguised and altered.

Bishop Tanner, I think, in his correspondence with the learned and accurate Thomas Baker of Cambridge, mentions a profe English version of the NOVELLE of Bandello, who endeavoured to avoid the obfcenities of Boccace and the improbabilities of Cinthio, in 1580, by W. W. Had I seen this performance, for which I have searched Tanner's library in vain, I would have informed the inquifitive reader, how far it accommodated Shakespeare in the conduct of the Tragedy of ROMEO AND JULIET. As to the tranflator, I make no doubt that the initials W. W. imply William Warner the author of ALBION'S ENGLAND', who was esteemed by his cotemporaries as one of the refiners of our language, and is said in Meres's WIT'S TREASURY, to be one of those by whom "the English tongue is

mightily enriched, and gorgeously invested in rare ornaments "and refplendent habiliments "." Warner was alfo a tranflator of Plautus; and wrote a novel, or rather a fuite of ftories, much in the style of the adventures of Heliodorus's Ethiopic romance, dedicated to lord Hunfdon, entitled, "SYRINX, or a feauenfold Hiftorie, handled with varietie of pleasant and profitable, both commicall and tragicall, argument. Newly pe“rused and amended by the first author W. WARNER. At "London, printed by Thomas Purfoote, &c. 1597 "." Warner

ftory, I think in Wood's collection of ballads in the Afhmolean Museum.

- Fol. 280. edit. 1598.

"In quarto. Bl. Lett. This is the fecond edition. The first being full of faults. TO THE READER, he fays, One in pen "ning pregnanter, and a fchollar better "than myfelfe, on whofe graue the graffe now groweth, green, whom otherwise, though otherwife to me guiltie, I name not, hath borrowed out of euerie CALAMUS [of the Syrinx,] of the Storie here"in handled, argument and inuention to "feuerall bookes by him published. An30 "other

66

in his ALBION'S ENGLAND, commonly fuppofed to be first printed in 1592°, says, "Written haue I already in Profe, "allowed of fome, and now offer I Verse, attending indifferent " cenfvres."

In 1598 was published, as it feems, "A fyne Tufcane hyf4.6 torye called ARNALT AND LUCINDA." It is annexed to "The ITALIAN SCHOOLEMAISTER, conteyninge rules for "pronouncynge the Italyan tongue"."

Among George Gafcoigne's WEEDES printed in 1576, is the Tale of Ferdinando Jeronimi, or "The pleasant fable of Fer“dinando Ieronimi and Leonora de Valafco, translated out of "the Italian riding tales of Bartello." Much poetry is interwoven into the narrative. Nor, on the mention of Gascoigne, will it be foreign to the prefent purpose to add here, that in the year 1566, he tranflated one of Ariofto's comedies called SUPPOSITI, which was acted the fame year at Gray's-inn. The title is, "SVPPOSES. A comedie written in the Italian tongue by "Ariofto, Englished by George Gascoigne of Graies inne efquire, "and there presented, 1566." This comedy was first written in profe by Ariosto, and afterwards reduced into rhyme. Gafcoigne's translation is in profe. The dialogue is fupported with much spirit and ease, and has often the air of a modern converfation. As Gafcoigne was the firft who exhibited on our stage a story from Euripides, fo in this play he is the first that produced an English comedy in profe. By the way, the quaint name of Petruchio, and the incident of the master and fervant changing habits and characters, and perfuading the Scenese to personate the father, by frightening him with the hazard of his travelling. from Sienna to Ferrara against the commands of government,

"other of late, hauing (fayning the fame "a Tranflation) fet foorth an historie of a "Duke of Lancaster neuer before author"ed, hath vouchfafed to incerte therein "whole pages verbatim as they are herein "extant, &c." The first edition is entered to Purfoot, Sept. 22, 1584. REGISTR. STATION. B. fol. 201. a.

° Lond. by T. Orwin. 4to. Bl. Lett. But it is entered to Thomas Tadman, Nov. 7, 1586. REGISTR. B. fol. 212. b. As printed.

P Entered to the two Purfootes, Aug.19, REGISTR. STATION. C. fol. 40. b.

9 See Gascoigne's HEARBES, fol. 1.

was

was transferred into the TAMING OF THE SHREW. I doubt not however, that there was an Italian novel on the subject. From this play also the ridiculous name and character of Doctor Dodipoll feems to have got into our old drama'. But to return.

In Shakespeare's MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, Beatrice suspects she shall be told she had "her good wit out of the

HUNDRED MERRY TALES '." A translation of LES CENT NOUVELLES NOUVELLES, printed at Paris before the year 1500, and faid to have been written by fome of the royal family of France, but a compilation from the Italians, was licenced to be printed by John Waly, in 1557, under the title of " A Hun"dreth mery tayles," together with The freere and the boye, ftans puer ad menfam, and youthe, charite, and humylite'. It was frequently reprinted, is mentioned as popular in Fletcher's NICE VALOUR; and in the LONDON CHAUNTICLERES, fo late as 1659, is cried for fale by a ballad-vender, with the SEVEN WISE MEN OF GOTHAM", and Scogan's JESTS".

In 1587, George Turberville the poet, already mentioned as the tranflator of Ovid's EPISTLES, published a fet of tragical tales in profe, felected from various Italian novelists. He was a skilful master of the modern languages, and went into Russia in the quality of fecretary to Thomas Randolph efquire, envoy to the emperor of Ruffia. This collection, which is dedicated to his brother Nicholas, is entitled, "TRAGICAL TALES, transla

See fol. 4, &c. See alfo Nashe's Preface to G. Harvey's Hunt is up: printed in 1596. "The wisdome of doctor Dodepole "plaied by the children of Paules," is entered to R. Olyffe, Oct. 7, 1600. Registr. STATION. C. fol. 65. b.

A&t ii. Sc. i.

REGISTR. STATION. A. fol. zz. a. See alfo B. fub ann. 1581. fol. 186. a. "Of these, see fupr. p. 72. There is an entry to R. Jones, Jan. 5, 1595, “A "COMEDIE entitled A KNACK TO KNOWE "A KNAVE, newlye fett fourth, as it hath "fundrye tymes ben plaid by Ned Allen

"and his companie, with Kemp's MERY"MENTES OF THE MEN OF GOTHEHAM." REGISTR. STATION. B. fol. 304. a.

* Under a licence to T. Colwell, in 1565, "The geyftes of Skoggon gather"ed together in this volume." REGISTR. STATION. A. fol. 134. a.

* It may be doubted whether the trea tife on Hunting reprinted with his Falconrie, in 1611, and called a translation, with verfes by Gafcoigne, is to be ascribed to him. One or both came out first in 1575. The Dedication and Epilogue to the Falconrie, are figned by Turberville.

"ted by Turberville in time of his troubles, out of fundrie "Italians, with the argument and lenvoy to each tale '.'

Among Mr. Oldys's books, was the "Life of Sir Meliado a "Brittish knight"," tranflated from the Italian, in 1572. By the way, we are not here to suppose that BRITTISH means Englifh. A BRITTISH knight means a knight of Bretagne or Britanny, in France. This is a common mistake, arifing from an equivocation which has converted many a French knight into an Englishman. The learned Nicholas Antonio, in his SPANISH LIBRARY, affords a remarkable example of this confufion, and a proof of its frequency, where he is fpeaking of the Spanish translation of the romance of TIRANTE THE WHITE, in 1480. "Ad fabularum artificem ftylum convertimus, Joannem Mar"torell Valentiæ regni civem, cujus eft liber hujus commatis,. "TIRANT LE BLANCH infcriptus, atque anno 1480, ut aiunt, "Valentiæ in folio editus. MORE HIC ALIORUM TALIUM "OTIOSORUM CONSUETO, fingit fe hunc librum ex ANGLICA “in Lufitanam, deinde Lufitana in Valentinam linguam, anno, "1460, tranftuliffe, &c." That is, "I now turn to a writer "of fabulous adventures, John Martorell of the kingdom of

46

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Valencia, who wrote a book of this caft, entitled TIRANTE "THE WHITE, printed in folio at Valencia in 1480. This "writer, according to a practice common to fuch idle hiftorians, pretends he translated this book from English into Portugueze, and from thence into the Valencian language." The hero is a gentleman of Bretagne, and the book was first written in the language of that country. I take this opportunity of observing, that these mistakes of England for Britanny, tend to confirm my hypothefis, that Bretagne, or Armorica, was antiently a copious fource of romance: an hypothesis, which I have the happiness to find was the opinion of the most learned

▾ Lond. for Abel Jeffes, 1587. 12mo. z Meliadus del Efpinoy, and Meliadus le noir Oeil, are the thirty-feventh and thirty-eighth knights of the ROUND TABLE, in R. Robinion's AVNCIENT ORDER,

&c. Lond. 1583. 4to. Bl. Lett. Chiefly a French translation.

a BIBL. HISPAN. L. x. c..ix. p. 193. num. 490.

and