The New York herald., 1922-04-23

~ RoF. ALDEN. invited to "the
agreeable imprudence of
writing another book on
Shakespeare" confesses that though
he had mo idea of doing 50. he was
unable to resist the temptation of
making "a compendium of the known
facts respecting Shakespeare, and OF
the prevailing critical judgments OF
modern scholarship, sufficiently un-
technical and uncolored
by any desire to prove a case. F"
Considering the matter, he found
one or two more excuses for accept
ing the chance-hence this fluent
and delightful book.
To begin with, the author consid-
ers the age in which Shakespeare
lived, and his setting in Elizabethan
England, the significance of the
Renaissance in his literary envi-
ronment and the classical and italian
influences which bore upon him. A
chapter follows headed Life and
Words" in which Prof. Alden traces
the circumstances Of Shakespeare s
earlier and later life with no air of
imposing either any of the "tradi-
tions" or of his own opinions upon
the matter as more than current
talk which may have held truth in
1t, but is not to be taken as authen-
tic because it cannot be matched up
with. any definite facts. 1.-The fact
is,"' says the author, I'VE know quite
as much of him in the externals Of
his life as we; have any right to ex-
pect to. know of one who was not
a subject of public record, like a
king, a general or pope; the only
exceptional circumstance is that he
was a. writer. and in the case of
writer's we. always have hope that
they will record themselves-the
facts of their essential and spiritual
life-in works both directly and indi-
rectly geographic. That Shake
speare failed to do this, to an extent
unparalleled by any poet since Ho-
mer, is the unforgettable grievance"
In this chapter also is some dis
cursive speculation as to Shake
speare's associates, and as to who
were especially his friends. besides
some engaging guessing as to the
kind of books the young man had
assimilated before he came to Lon
don, besides, the Bible and the
prayer book. He was deeply familiar
with these, and he probably knew
the current versions of the old ro-
mances and ballads, possibly Chau-
GER and Cover and Cations ever
popular Book of Troy" and ''The
Mirror for Magistrates" In London
he doubtless saw the work of Robert
Greene Thomas Lodge and Hak-
luyts Voyages" first published at
that time. His early Identification
with. the work of the theater was not
checking of his verse making-he
called Venus and Adonis" "the
first heir of my invention" and its
instant success brought "Lucrece"
fast upon it's heels. The patronage
of the Earl of Southampton was
scarcely a greater benefit than his
friendship not only with Burbage.
Ben Jonson and all the tribe at the
theater, but with Spenser, Beaumont
and others of established fame. The
list of his friends is long, even in the
uncertainty about all the unaccented
parts of his life. His associates at
the theater were much more cordial
even adulatory-than falls to the
lot of most of the modern actors and
play writers. While much of the
chorus of praise was called out by his
work, his personal characteristics
were summed up in, Jonson's words:
HE was indeed honest, and of an
open and free nature"
In his consideration Of the poems
as distinct from the plays. the au-
thor traces some Italian origins, and
notes the maturity of the sonnets in
contrast with the narrative poems.
In an eloquent summing up. Shake
speare is called first of all an Eliz-
abethan and child of the Rennais-
sance; as dramatist unoriginal both
in material and method; his trend