Sir George Bucke, who took possession of the office of Master of the Revels in August 1610. 4. To be compared with Pericles and Cymbeline for the stories of Perdita and Marina and Imogen; with Henry VIII. for the queen's trial. Said to be sneered at by Jonson in the Induction to his Bartholomew Fair, 1614, along with The Tempest. "If there be never a servant-monster (Caliban) in the Fair who can help it, nor a nest of anticks? (The twelve Satyrs: Winter's Tale, iv. 4. 352.) He is loth to make Nature afraid in his plays, like those that beget Tales, Tempests, and such like drolleries." In his conversations with Drummond of Hawthornden (1619), he said that Shakespeare wanted art and sometimes sense; for in one of his plays he brought in a number of men saying they had suffered shipwreck in Bohemia, where is no sea near by 100 miles. XXXVII.-HENRY VIII. 1. This play was written by Shakespeare and Fletcher jointly; Shakespeare's part is Act i. Sc. 1, 2; Act ii. Sc. 3, 4; Act iii. Sc. 2; Act v. Sc. I. (See Mr. Spedding's essay, Gentleman's Magazine, Aug. 1850.) 2. Founded on Holinshed's Chronicle, Cavendish's Life of Wolsey, and Fox. 3. Date 1613. In Act v. Sc. 5, 1. 51, we read: "Wherever the bright sun of heaven shall shine, His honour and the greatness of his name Shall be, and make new nations. A State lottery was set up expressly for the establishment of English Colonies in Virginia in 1612. Rowley's Henry VIII. and the drama of Lord Cromwell were reprinted in 1613 with the usual fraudulent intentions. Sir Henry Wotton says in his letters, that the Globe was burnt down on 30 June O. S., St. Peter's day 1613, while a new piece named All is True was performing; this piece from his minute description was certainly Henry VIII. Yet Shakespeare's part may have been written earlier than Fletcher's, say in 1611. 4. In 1613 the titles of many of Shakespeare's plays were changed. 1 Henry IV. was called Hotspur; and Henry IV. (or Merry Wives of Windsor ?), Sir John Falstaff; Much Ado About Nothing, Benedick and Beatrix; Julius Cæsar, Cæsar's Tragedy. In both plays completed by Fletcher, Shakespeare introduces and completely sketches all the principal characters. For the vision in Act iv. Sc. 2, compare Pericles, Act v. Sc. 2; and Cymbeline, Act v. Sc. 4. None of these are Shakespeare's work. The time involved in the play is twelve years, 1521-33. Historically Katherine survived the birth of Elizabeth three years. SPURIOUS PLAYS. Other plays have been assigned to Shakespeare without reasonable ground; for instance : 1. The London Prodigal, printed in 1605 by T. Creede for N. Butter; acted at the Globe. 2. The Yorkshire Tragedy, printed in 1608 by T. Pavier; acted at the Globe. 3. Sir John Oldcastle, printed in 1600, entered on the Stationers' books by T. Pavier, acted by the Admiral's Company. All these three had Shakespeare's name in full on the title-page; all were printed for piratical booksellers. N. Butter was the publisher of the shamefully garbled Quarto of King Lear. Sir John Oldcastle was written in 1599 by Munday, Drayton, Wilson, and Hathway. 4. Lord Cromwell, printed in 1602, entered on the Stationers' books by W. Cotton, acted by the Queen's Company. 5. The Puritan, published by G. Eld in 1607, acted by the Children of Paul's. 6. Locrine, "newly set forth, overseen, and corrected by W. S.," printed by T. Creede, 1595. These latter three have W. S. on the title-page. The relation of Locrine to Shakespeare has never been fully worked out. It is worth investigation. The whole six were printed along with Pericles in the Third Folio as additions to the collection in the First Folio. 7. The Birth of Merlin was printed by T. Johnson in 1662 for Francis Kirkham and Henry Marsh, as by Shakespeare and Rowley; "several times acted." 8. The Troublesome Reign of King John was published by S. Clarke in 1591, and again by J. Holme (printed by V. S[immes]) in 1611. It was acted by the Queen's Company. "By W. Sh.” was inserted on the title-page in 1611. 9. The Merry Devil of Edmonton was published by J. Hirst and T. Archer in 1608. Acted at the Globe. The author, T.B., was probably Tony Brewer. 10. Fair Em. was published in 1631. Acted by Lord Strange's Company before 1591, in which year it was criticised by Greene. 11. Mucedorus was published in 1598; acted at the Globe; probably written by Lodge. 12. Arden of Feversham was printed in 1592. None of these plays can be Shakespeare's. In addition to the decisive internal evidence, note, with regard to Nos. 3, 4, 5, 8, that no company except the Chamberlain's (afterwards the King's) and possibly Lord Strange's ever acted any play of Shakespeare's. Yet many German critics and one or two English believe in the authenticity of many of these dramas. Mr. Simpson has in the press a volume of various other plays in which he thinks Shakespeare may have been concerned. [Note on Richard II.—Since p. 26 was in type Mr. Hales has shown reason for identifying the play of Henry IV. performed for Sir Gilly Merrick with Shakespeare's Richard II. I find this confirmed by Camden's account of the trial. Another play called Richard II., mentioned by Forman in his Diary, I identify with The Life and Death of Jack Straw, mentioned in a subsequent chapter.] CHAPTER IV. ON VARIOUS QUESTIONS CONNECTED WITH (A.)—What plays published in Shakespeare's name are genuine? 1. There are some plays included in all editions of his works which he probably never wrote a line of, namely: The first of these is by Marlowe, the other two by Peele and Marlowe jointly. The division of their work is given under the heading of each play. The original editing of 1 Henry VI. was probably Marlowe's. Shakespeare having added ii. 4 and (?) 5 about 1596 without retouching the rest. Many persons, however, still believe that Shakespeare wrote large portions of these plays; they have never succeeded in separating his work. 2. There are plays finished by Shakespeare and rewritten by him, viz. : The two first of these in the Quarto editions show us Peele's work after Shakespeare's first corrections, the Folios after his rewriting; he probably corrected them after Peele's death. In the Taming of the Shrew his share is confined to the Petruchio story; the rest of the play is most likely by T. Lodge. 3. There are plays left unfinished by Shakespeare and completed by others, viz. :— His share of Timon was confined to the story of Timon himself; Cyril Tourneur probably writing the rest. Of Pericles he wrote the story of Marina; Rowley (?) wrote the brothel scenes, and Wilkins the rest; Wilkins being also the plotter and editor. Of Troylus and Cressida the part not Shakespeare's is confined to the last Act. This is probably taken from the old play by Dekker and Chettle; acted in 1599. 4. There are plays which are joint productions of Shakespeare and Fletcher, namely : He also possibly helped Ben Jonson in his first draft of Sejanus. 5. There are plays to which Shakespeare contributed isolated scenes: I. 2. I Henry VI. (as noticed above). 6. Some of Shakespeare's plays have been greatly abridged for theatrical purposes, namely :— 7. One has not only been abridged, but interpolated : I. Macbeth. |