The San Francisco call., 1905-08-22
OTHELLO' REAL
NAME QUER|N|
Venetian Scholars Dig Out
Two Accounts of Man
Shakespeare Immortalized
Special Dispatch to The Call.

LONDON, Aug. 21.-That entertaining
French paper, the Paris Menestrel, has
lust completed some researches among
the archives of the Querini family, OF
which, it is alleged, Shakespeare Othello
was a member A Venetian scholar, Ce-
sare Augusta Levi, also has overhauled
great bundle of documents relating to the
same family and claims to have discov-
cred the original source whence the great
dramatist derived the plot of his tragedy.
He tells all about il in communication
to the Institute Veneto.
Although both investigators appear to
have had access to the same material
their stories are very different Accord
ing to the French paper, Desdemona's s
tragic death really occurred in Crete, in
the year 1923 Othello had an accomplice
in his valet, whom he instructed to place
himself in a chamber close to the ladys s
apartments and start groaning as though
something had. suddenly gone arniss with
him. Then Othello asked his wife to get
up and learn what was the. matter. AS
she crossed the threshold a sackful of
grass was flung at her head. She fell to
the ground and was then assaifed with
succession of similar grass-flled sacks.
being finally smothered under the falling
ceiling and masonry, which had been
loosened by Othellos orders. This ver-
sion makes Othello a regular lowdown
villain.
The Italian goes much more into de-
tails He Identifies Othello with Nicoli
Querini, who had fought hard for the
Greek colonies of the republic of ST.
Mark against Turkish corsairs, be-
tween 1880 and 1540. He was 4S when
he married Palma Calergi-the Desde-
mona of the play-who was twenty
years his junior. They lived at Rethy
mo, in Crete. They did not get along
at all well together at first. Signor
Levi quotes letters from Antonio Caler-
81, Palma's cousin, describing how she
was cruelty beaten by her husband and
had to take sanctuary In the church of
San Francesca, whence she was carried
more dead than alive to her fathers
home. He complained to the Venetian
Council of Ten about his son-in-laSvs s
conduct, and the latter was summoned
to Venice to be tried on the charge of
conjugal cruelty. The ship on which
he sailed to Venice bore a bundle of
letters from Antonio Calergi-accord
ing TO Signor Levi, the original of
Iago-to the Council of Ten. The
Council acquitted Querini, who return
ed to Crete and his wife. He treated
her much better thereafter and they
both lived to a good old age in the
great Venetian island. 1t is pleasant
to learn, according to this version, that
Desdemona was nevr really mur
dered.
The announcement that the old ram
shackle house at Verona which, accord
ing to legend. was once the home of Ju-.
liet, has been purchased by the town and
is to be preserved as a museum, simply
means that the town authorities are keen
to recognize an opportunity to extract
money from the pockets of the credulous.
The fact is there is no historical founda-
ton for the story which the great bard
has preserved for all times. Had there
been, Dante. who retired to Verona when
exiled from Florence, would certainly
have mentioned it, for he speaks of the
feud between the two houses of Capulet
and Montagu. The only true home Of
Juliet-the Juliet of Shakespeares play
is on the stage. She needs no monument
The people of Verona would do better to
preserve the homes of Dante. Petrarch,
Giotto and Cagliari, all Of whom undoubt-
edly lived there. But, perhaps. there
would not be so much money in such en-
terprises. Fiction has a stronger attrac-
ton for sentimental folk than fact.
Mrs Campbell Praed has recovered
from the illness which drove her from
London last spring. and kept her from