The New York herald., 1874-10-11


the drama IN 1890. The plot is supposed to be
taken rom the romance OF "Rosalynde" 1890. by
Thomas Lodge, from which the principal charac-
ters are sketched; but Jaques, Touchstone and
Audrey are OF shakespeare's own creation. There
is tradition that Shakespeare played the charac-
s.Mucu ADO ABOUT NoTHrNG.o
This play, according to yertues MSS, formerly
IL IS supposed to have been written In 1000. in
which year 1t was hrst printed. or the serious
Arlosto's "orlando Furioso. " and spensers .Faery
Queen" also IN an Italian n, novel no by Bandeio.
1t is said that play called "Hamlet" was known
and acted in London as early as 1898. The next
reference 10 the play Is an entry IN the stationers
the Revenge OF Hamlett, prince OF Denmarke,' as
vt was latee acted BY the Lord Chamberlayne his
1 servantesn An edition was published in 1903
rom that published in l6o4-containIng scarcely
! still more marked. Three other additions were
published. in ldo5, 1911 and an undated one
The main story Is TO be found In the 'sCnronicles
/ OF saxo Drammaricus" the Danish historian
from fim translated into English as "The Hystore
Of Hambletn O this latter WORK no earlier edition
~ - MERRY WIVES OF WINDSOR.
was probably written In 1901. The frst edition
was printed In quarto in 1902. bat probably rom
stage recitatlons ~ being very Inferior version.
Another quarto, printed IN 1919, lacked the COM
pleteness Of the folio Of 1928 Dennis in his dedica-
"rhe Comical Gallant,n says that Shakespeare
wrote this comedy at the instance OF Queen Eliza
character OF lover, limited the production or the
composition to two weeks, in which time 1t was
finished
TWELFTH NIGHT.n
This comedy forms the thirteenth play in the
tlon. The composition OF the play is placed IN
1000, based on an entry In memorandum book or
ar 1oan Maanning9ap ami q apparently Temple student
says ays;."At our feast we % had play called Twelve:
neere to that IN Italian called Gnganni' A good
practIse In it to make the steward believe his lady
| widdowe was IL love with him, by counterfayung
him what shee liked best in him, and prescribing
nus ms gestures. inscri6ing MS apparaile 4c., and
| leeve they to0ke him to be mad.n
'TRoILUs AND CRESSIDA."
1907 Dr. Drake, I5ol Mr. chalmers isoo aGm1 In 1909
there were t, Two quartos printed The first bore
correct spelling OF the name OF ''Cressida = both
| editions under Shakespeare's name. The sources
obtained ior the material were evidently Chaucers
poem Sa, ot the same title. Chapman's translation Of
! "Hstory OF the Destruction or Troy.n
HENRY VIII
| This play. IL Is ConjeCtured was written about
1000. or perhaps two or three years later. Alter
| having lam by some years unacted 1t was revived
Trae.5 During its reclsa the theatre caught re e
and burned down, the cause OF the fire being the
careless use Of some small ordnance in one OF the
scenes. Doubtless the manuscript copies OF many
OF Snakespeare's plays were consumed. Henry VIII.
was first published IN 1928. Its action comprises
period OF twelve years. There is deviation from
history Ia placing the death or Queen Catherine
before the birth oi Elizaoeth when she did not DIE
| till three years thereafter.
MEASURE FOR MEASURE
/ was written, Malone supposes about the close OF
1908. The story taken from Whetstones "Pro-
mos and Cassandran narrative so imperfect in
analysis ana so lnsipd in style that 1t was but an
embryo which Snakespeare's culture grew to
/ 0eYef0HmenE.
OTHELLO
Tae nrst printed copy Is one IN qnarto 10 1922,
lowing year. In 1880 another quarto edition APP
peared. with some textual variations. There Is
written, entitled .rne Moor OF Venice" was per-
formed at whitehall on November /, 1904 There
FORE the period OF It's composition was before that
date The plot 10 found in Cintbio's "Hecatom.
English translation although we have no knowl-
edge tnat there was such.
Three quarto editions were published in 1908,
varying In many respects from tue folio OF 1923,
early copies, made ior stage representation. me
period Of It's composition was probably subsequent
Court In Dece mber, 1905. Hints ior the plot are
presumed to have been taken from variety Of
sources ss command Taere rev was an ~
OF King Leir and his Three Daughters Gonorl.,
kaPan and Coroeila," and also an old ballad on
the subject.
The composition OF this tragedy can only be
placed between 1908 and 1910, Malone's conjecture
beng 1000 1t IS known to nave been acted In
1910. The historical incidents are according to
HOlnshed.
No earlier copy than the olio OF 1923 Collier
endeavors to prove 1t was written before 1908.
it. The main materials OF the drama appear to
be derived from Norths "Plutarch." The action
embraces about three years.
ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA.
First printed IN the folio OF 1923. 1t is believed
the play was written In 1907 or 1908. The histori
cal incidents are drawn from the same source as
'Julius Caesar"
cYMBELNE.
Like the several last preceding plays no early
copies are known. Chalmers places the date OF
composition In 1905, Malone in 1909 The plot is OF
Italian origin, a,resemblance being traced TO Bo-
caccio's "Bernabo da Genova."
rn,er.d and ira, G0KI4aASTs' ~ 100. uo,or. ~
lectures 1t was composed In 1910. The historical
material Is derived rom Norths "Piutarch," and
some speeches difrer only In the versldcatlon.
TIAON OF ATHENS.
There was no other copy but that OF 1923. Ma
lone dates the period or composition at 1909. 1t
would seem to me, from It's crudeness and want OF
polish, to have been Q youthful production OF
Shakespeare and much neglected.
The folio OF 1923 contained the earliest printed
copy. 1t was probably written about l6l1 and
known to have been acted early In 1918. The plot
Is derived from no SPECIFIC source.
WINTERS TALE.
THIS play was nrst licensed In 1911 and probably
then just written. the story Is taken from ''The
Pleasant History Of Dorastus and Fawnia," 1883,
Dy bODeTg GTeene. Many OF the circumstances or
the novel are omitted, neither are the names
adopted, and the characters OF Antlgonus Pauuna
ana Autolycus were newly introduced.
DEDUCTIONS.
From the foregoing 1t Will be seen that where
ever pauclty OF evidence might seem to raise
doubt as TO the authorship OF any OF these plays
there Is no indication OF the slightest pretention
from any quarter that Bacon had anything to do
| with them. BY thus engrossing the chronology we
can more easily draw conclusions. We ind that
the plots were rarely wholly Shakespeares inven-
tons. collection OF Italian and English tales
some books on English, Greek and Roman history,
served as foundation, ana the lecundity OF Shake
speares mind supplied the rest. 10 this aad a
lew plays OF feeble authors rewritten by Shake
speare and we have o process OF drama-makng
which was az easy TO Shakespeare as rolling or a
log. We can thus see that much Of his special
knowledge was derived from many sources He was
not onlya writer but a preparer Of manuscripts Tor
the stage, and doubtless some came into his hands
which ne changed 80 as not to leave anything
traceable or the original out the style OF compost
ton. Still cannot believe that there were many