Herodotus, Clio and Euterpe, although "nine Books" are mentioned on the title-page; and it is dedicated to "Mayster Robert Dormer, son to Sir William Dormer," by B. R.: the same initials are at the end of an address "to the Gentlemen Readers," but there is no other mark of authorship. II. 265. Such a collection was in great popular demand.]-It may be worth while to give the exact wording of the title-page of the edit. 1631: it is "A Booke of Merrie Riddles. Very meete and delightfull for youth to try their wits.-London. Printed for Robert Bird and are to bee solde at his shoppe in Cheapeside at the signe of the Bible. 1631." 12mo. B. L. 11 leaves. "Ale We quote the following from the edit. 1630, the more curious because it contains the words of a very old Catch, then usually sung by Knights," and which has come down to our day. "Q. I am foule to be looked unto, Yet many seeke me for to win, The foure parts of the world I show, As needfull am I to mankind As any thing that they can find. Many doe take me for their guide, Who otherwise would runne aside. "Solution]. It [is] a Loadestone, for without it no Pilot were able to guide a ship in the Ocean Seas." II. 272. He was then employed to watch over Mary Queen of Scots.]-On the subject of the confinement of the Queen of Scots we make the following quotation from an unpublished letter from Thomas Stringer to the Earl of Shrewsbury, at a later period than when Robinson was engaged to watch over her it is from MS. Lambeth, 699, and it bears date from Wrakefield, 13 Nov. 1584: the particulars are as curious as they are novel :— "Apon the queanes [Mary's] seacknes here Mr. Chanslar advertised Mr. Secretory, and when thay weare detarmyned to have gone to Tutbury the last of thys month, or the fyrst of the next, so now I parsave that Mr. Secretory hayth wryt to Mr. Chanslar that her Mayjesties [Elizabeth's] plessur ys that she be not raymoved befor she be wel able; so that now Mr. Chanslar hayth no warrant to ramouffe her befor he hath further word. I fear thys detracksyon gretly, for Mr. Secretory wryt to Mr. Chanslar to confer with your offysures yf she wear not able to travell, but shold stay longer, what wear reson for her highnes to alow your honar abowff your thyrty pound a weeke; and I told hym that I wear not so sawsy to entar into any such asksyon, but as I rasaved your derecsyon so to obay it; and that no longer then thys week here wear no provysyon, and that I wold not mayke ane anew withowt your specyal commandement. And yf your Lordshypp shal be moved for any further provysyon yow must gyve derecksyon for the same, for our wyne is gone almost, and wheat and malt in lyck caes. Here is gret expensys of fewell by reson this howsse ys large and cold: yf you wear dyscharged, and your howswold setled at Sheffeld, yt wylbe small, but now your chargys ys so gret, that I am wearry to se yt withowt you had double allowances." The above is addressed thus: "To the Ryght Honorable and my verry good Lord and M. the earle of Shrewsbury, earle marshall of Yngland." II. 275. The George Turberville who was murdered by his man Morgan.]For reasons assigned on subsequent page (453) it is impossible that it should have been the poet. It is a mistake to say that Harvey gave to Spenser a copy of "Lazarillo:" it was Spenser who pledged it in a wager with Harvey see Vol. I. 381. : II. 281. We are not aware of the existence of "Tis merry when Knaves meet."]-We find the following singular memorandum in the Registers of the Stationers' Company, which mentions the subject of the next article, as well as "Tis merry when Knaves meet," with other books which were ordered to be burned: "29 Oct. 1600. Yt is ordered that the next Court-day two bookes lately printed, thone called the letting of humours blood in the head vayne, thother a mery meting, or tis mery when Knaves mete, shall be publiquely burnt, the whole impressions of them, for that they contayne matters unfytt to be published. They to be burnt in the Hall kytchen, with other popishe bookes and thinges that were lately taken. And also Mr. Darrels booke lately printed concerning the casting out of Devilles." Afterwards, in another part of the Register, we read as follows: "4to. Die Marcij 1600. Received of these persons folowinge the sommes insuinge for theyr disorders in buyinge of the bookes of humours letting blood in the head vayne, beinge newe printed after yt was first forbydden and burnt." The above is succeeded by the names of 29 Stationers, each of whom was fined 28 6d, excepting Fisher, who, for some unstated reason, was let off for 12d. Perhaps he had fewer copies than others. II. 291. The song "I'll tie my Mare in thy ground" was a theatrical tune.]— Very possibly it had some relation to the still older tune, "Tye thy Mare, Tom boy," upon which W. Kethe wrote a parody: see Vol. I. 424. II. 292. It seems probable that they were father and son.]-See this point further illustrated Vol. I. p. 202. See likewise this Vol. p. 521. II. 294. The author calls this tract" The Night Raven."]-The edition we have used is the second, as far as is known. The tract seems to have been first published in 1618. II. 300. We have heard of a fragment by Wynkyn de Worde.]-- Our authority is the late Thomas Rodd, who knew more about books than any other man in the trade, that we ever met with. With reference to the romance of "Guy of Warwick," we may here add, that among the Roxburghe Ballads, in the British Museum, is one printed upon what appears to have been part of a book, bearing this title : "The heroick History of Guy Earle of Warwick. Written by Humphrey Crouch.-London, Printed for Jane Bell at the east end of Christchurch. 1655." This is the more singular, because the date is the very year after S. Rowlands' version of the story had been "Printed by J. Bell and are to be sold at the East-end of Christ Church." Could there have been two versions in two following years, one by Rowlands and the other by Crouch, who was a known ballad writer and versifier of the day? (See Vol. I. p. 167.) Humphrey Crouch is not introduced by Lowndes, who gives the date of 1607 as that of the first publication of Rowlands' "Guy of Warwick." We never saw a copy so early, but we have no doubt of its existence. II. 300. Although this tract has been reprinted of late years.]-By the Percy Society in 1840. See a droll story regarding W. Rowley in this Vol. p. 337. II. 302. Absurdly assigned to Barten Holyday.]-Because he was not ten years old at the time of its publication in 1600. See Biogr. Dram. under "Shoemakers Holiday:""The Gentle Craft" is the second title of the comedy. See also Lowndes' edit. 1859, p. 1095. II. 305. Though what claim he had upon that Prelate does not appear.]—From the Registers of the Stationers' Company, in an entry that has never been noticed, we find that Francis Sabie was a Schoolmaster at Lichfield, and in 1587 bound his son Edmond apprentice to Robert Cullen, Stationer : "12 Junij Edmond Sabie, sonn of Francis Sabie of Lichefield in the countie of Stafford, Scholmaister, hath putt himself apprentise to Robert Cullen, citizen and stationer of London, for the terme of seven yeres from the date hereof." The usual fee of 28 6d was paid to the Company on the occasion. It is not stated whether the father was a clergyman as well as a schoolmaster: it seems probable that he was so, although we do not meet with Sabie's name in the records of either University. II. 305. Have received more attention than they deserve.]-See Brit. Bibl. I. 489, 497. Poet. Decam. I. 137, &c. II. 318. It was the saying of Queen Elizabeth.]-She seems to have been fond of the allusion to milkmaids, for, after the trial of Mary Queen of Scots, she wrote to her victim, that "if they had been two milkmaids with pails upon their arms "she would never have thought of depriving her of life. See Nicolas's "Life of Davison," p. 52. II. 324. Excepting Francis Rous, provost of Eton.]-We have accidentally omitted to observe, what will naturally occur to everybody, that R. F. cannot be taken as the initials of Francis Rous, unless, as was not very unusual at that date, he reversed them on the title-page for the sake of better concealment. II. 329. His "Pygmalion's Image and certain Satires," however, came out with the same date, 1598.] -The late Mr. Miller informed us that he had in his possession two distinct editions of Marston's Satires in 1599, a fact which shows their popularity. We never saw more than one impression of 1599, but Mr. Miller was too accurate to be mistaken. The Satires certainly created a sensation when first published. II. 330. In consequence of the death of Liberality.]-This poem on the death of Liberality cannot fail to remind us of Richard Barnfield's more serious and lengthened effusion on the same subject-"The Complaint of Poetrie for the death of Liberalitie," which came out in the same year (see Vol. I. p.49): we make a brief quotation from it in proof of the general similarity:— "But Liberalitie, is dead and gone, And Avarice usurps true Bounties seat. For Poctrie againe shall see thee never! "Thou wast the Nurse whose bountie gave me sucke; Thou wast the Tree whose fruit I still did plucke; In thee I joy'd, and now for thee I die!" We are to bear in mind that the whole of this, and much more, is put into the mouth of Poetry. In point of mere sprightly cleverness it seems to us that J. M. has the advantage: his effusion is much shorter and lighter, and it wants Barnfield's serious variety. II. 333. This is the fourth edition of Shakespeare's "Tarquin and Lucrece."]We ought to have called it "Lucrece" only, and so it continued to be entitled until 1616, when it was republished as "The Rape of Lucrece, by Mr. William Shakespeare, newly revised:" it was then printed at London by T. S. for Roger Jackson, in 8vo. 32 leaves. II. 335. This volume of Jests has sometimes, in later impressions, had the name of Archee, Charles the First's Jester, prefixed to it.]-We have not seen any such edition, but Lowndes (Bibl. Man. 1857, p. 71) points out two so called in 1639 and 1657. Such was not the case in 1634 (an edition not noticed by bibliographers), when it was still entitled A Banquet of Jests," and the number was increased from 195 to 261. A peculiar feature in the edition of 1634 is, that the following lines, mentioning various preceding popular collections, and terming it "the fourth impression," face the title-page : "The Printer to the Reader. "Since, Reader, I before have found thee kinde, Such are our sportive Taunts, Tales, Jests and Jeeres." II. 347. The above letter, which we copied some years ago.]-From the original, then in the State Paper Office. II. 352. By whom no separate work is known.]-The words "in verse" ought to have been added after "work," because, on p. 60 of this Vol., we have reviewed Dyer's prose paradox "The Praise of Nothing," printed in 1585. II. 361. Imprinted at London by Edm. Bollifaut.]-The printer's name ought to be Bollifant, not "Bollifaut." He was not a typographer who was much employed at the close of the seventeenth century. II. 363. Corin's Dreame of his faire Chloris.]-It is only subscribed W. S., and is found on the reverse of sign. M 2 of the edition of "England's Helicon," in 1600. There are several variations between the printed copies of 1596 and 1600, but they are not worth pointing out, as they do not affect the meaning of the poet. II. 366. No date can be assigned to the work in hand.]-George Clifford Earl of Cumberland, to whom Campion dedicates the first of the two books, died in 1605, but his son did not succeed him: he must have died before his father, whose brother inherited the title. II. 371. Such pieces as Nash's "Christ's Tears."]-Of course we refer here only to the "re-issue," because the original edition, without the author's ten dered amends to Gabriel Harvey, came out in 1593, as we have sufficiently explained on p. 13 of this Vol. II. 372. The writer warms as he proceeds.]-Gabriel Harvey, in 1593 ("Pierces Supererrogation"), says, "who can deny but the Resolution and Mary Magdalens Funerall Teares are penned elegantly and pathetically ?"" This praise, judging by the dates, preceded the publication of the works to which they apply. It appears from the accounts of the Lieutenant of the Tower, which we have inspected, that Robert Southwell was a prisoner there in 1592, as well as afterwards. II. 378. That he assisted at the coronation of Queen Mary.]-And, moreover, that Sir Thomas Gresham was born at Northampton and not in London. We have quoted the Athena Cantabrigienses for this correction of Sir F. Madden, not being ourselves aware of the particular publication where the strange error was committed-so strange indeed that we cannot help thinking that the printer, as in the case of "sele" for fele, must have been in fault. Our reference to the Ath. Cantabr. ought to have been to the first instead of to the second Vol. of that valuable work. II. 378. The stately Tragedie of Guistard and Sismond.)-This was not the only poem that William Walter translated from the Italian, "through the medium of a French version." He also rendered into English the story of Titus and Gesyppus: they were printed by Wynkyn de Worde, the first in 1532, and the last without date. Dr. Dibdin (Typ. Ant. II. 338), making a quotation from Walter's "Spectacle of Lovers," misprints "Endever thy selfe" "And ever thy selfe," making the passage nonsense. IL 386. That able pamphleteer and satirist was in no way tolerant of hexameters in English.]-We do not know that it has been observed upon, but it is a fact, that no less a poet than Chaucer was the earliest introducer of classical measures into our language. He commences his prose version of Boethius with these two hexameter lines, which are as correct as many of those which Stanyhurst inserted in his Virgil: "Alas, I wepyng am constrayned to begin verse of sorowful mater, They are the rendering of the following couplet : : Carmina qui quondam studio florente peregi, II. 387. We are unwilling not to add a brief specimen.]-A very singular experiment in English hexameters was made in 1599, by an anonymous author, in a small unique volume, entitled, "The first Booke of the Preservation of King Henry the vij. when he was but Earle of Richmond." What is most curious in it perhaps is, that the author, whoever he may have been, introduced his work by an explanation of the "Prosody" he had observed. At the back of the title-page he tells the Printer, R. B.: "Print with a good letter, this booke, and carefully Printer: Print each word legibill, not a word nor a sillabil alter: Keepe points, and commas, periodes, the parenthesis observe; My credit and thy reporte to defend, bothe safely to conserve.' In the third line he commits his first blunder, as regards our language, for we never pronounced the word "observe," as he requires it for his measure, with the emphasis on the first syllable. His introductory matter is superabundant, and an address to the Queen occupies many pages; it ends with these so-called hexameters : "Here I wil end, O Queen. O Lord our only creator, |