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THE WORKS AND LIFE OF
CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE
GENERAL EDITOR: R. H. CASE
TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
TAMBURLAINE
THE GREAT
IN TWO PARTS
EDITED BY
U. M. ELLIS-FERMOR, M.A., B.Litt.
READER IN ENGLISH LITERATURE, BEDFORD COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON
WITH TWO MAPS
GORDIAN PRESS, INC.
NEW YORK, MCMLXVI
Originally Published 1930
Reprinted 1966
All rights reserved
Published by Gordian Press, Inc., by
arrangement with Methuen and Co. Ltd., London
Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 66-23027
Printed in the U.S.A. by
EDWARDS BROTHERS, INC.
Ann Arbor, Michigan
PREFACE
IN the present edition the text of the 1590 octavo (Oj)
has been followed as closely as is consistent with a
readable, modernized text, but it may be remarked in
passing that modernized texts are inevitably unscientific to
some degree. Readings from the other early editions or
conjectures have only been substituted when they seemed
necessary for the elucidation of passages that could not
otherwise be explained. In some notably corrupt passages,
such as I. v. ii. 121-4, it has seemed better, however, to
allow an imperfect reading from 1590 to stand in its entirety
and to explain variants and conjectures, whether helpful or
not, in the footnotes. In the collations appear only the
main variants, though these are, it is hoped, complete ;
mere differences of spelling where no other differences appear
to be involved, have not been represented. The following
procedure has been adopted ; where, in the collations, a
reading appears thus : * ships] ship Og.' it means that all
early editions read ships (or its equivalent in one form or
other of Elizabethan spelling), as given in the text, except
the edition of 1593 (Og) which reads ship. Such conjectures
or emendations as have not been embodied in the text are,
in general, mentioned in the footnote upon the line in
question.
It is difficult to decide how far the spelling and punc-
tuation of the 1590 octavo should be retained in a modern
edition and, whatever system be adopted, a certain amount
of inconsistency and at worst an occasional petitio principii
is unavoidable in respect of the form chosen for incorpora-
tion in the text and of the amount included in the collations.
vi TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
I have retained the spelHng of the original in the majority
of proper names (and in a few other cases, to which refer-
ence is made in the notes). Thus, words such as EHsian,
Moroccus, Alcaron, which frequently appear also during
this same period in the form Elysium, Morocco, etc., are
represented here by the spelling of Oi ; to alter them would,
moreover, make a slight difference in the sound of the line,
and, though we have no reason to assume that Marlowe
saw the edition through the press himself, it seems safer
to retain a form which might represent his intention. In
the case of final ' ed ' and similar syllables, where elision
appears to occur indifferently in the old texts, the reading
of Oi has been followed. Where elision ('d, 'st, etc.) is used
there, it appears also in the present text and when the full
forms are used there they are expressed in such modern
equivalents as most nearly represent the original. The
metre of the line must determine, as in many similar cases,
whether these variable, unstressed vowels are to be given
syllabic value or not.
Capital letters appear to be used in the octavos to give
additional emphasis to words charged with emotional sig-
nificance, but they have been eliminated in modernizing.^
Their inclusion, in the absence of the congruent spelling
and punctuation, would undoubtedly prejudice the reading
rather than assist it. In a few cases they have been retained
(with perhaps doubtful advantage, even so !) where their
occurrence seemed so obviously to modify the significance
of a phrase as to be best represented by the use of the
same convention to-day. The rhythmic punctuation pre-
sents a difficult problem and that of the original has been
discarded in favour of an attempt to present, according to
modern conventions of grammatical punctuation, the mean-
ing I believe Marlowe's sentences to contain. The original
1 For the part played by capital letters in a sixteenth- or early seven-
teenth-century text, see P. Simpson : Shakespearian Punctuation, 43
(Oxf. 1 911). Some interesting examples of the work of the printer of
Tamhurlaine (Oj) will be found in Part I, II. ii. 71-3 and II. iii. 14-23.
PREFACE vii
punctuation is, I think, rhythmical ; that is, the Hues are
pointed for the actor or speaker, not punctuated for the
grammarian. Thus, commas, semicolons and even colons
occur sometimes where there is no logical pause (almost
as a stage direction to the actor telling him to emphasize
a significant word) and full stops where modern convention
would adopt a comma. The use of the sign : (or :)
for the question-mark and exclamation mark indifferently is
common and in a few cases there is some slight difficulty
in determining which of the modern signs should be used.
One or two passages pointed according to the original will
serve to show the difference between the two systems and
to support the previous remarks.
1. Our soules, whose faculties can comprehend
The wondrous Architecture of the world :
And measure every wandring plannets course.
Still climing after knowledge infinite,
And alwaies mooving as the res ties Spheares.
Wils us to weare our selves and never rest.
Until we reach the ripest fruit of all.
That perfect blisse and sole felicitie.
The sweete fruition of an earthly crowne. [Part I, ii. vii. 21-9J
2. I conquered all as far as Zansibar,
Then by the Northerne part of Affrica.
I came at last to Graecia, and from thence
To Asia,^^^ where I stay against my will,^"^
Which is from Scythia,^'^ where I first began/''^
Backeward and forwards nere five thousand leagues,
Looke here my boies,^'^ see what a world of ground, ^"^
Lies westward from the midst of Cancers line,
Unto the rising of this earthly globe,
Whereas the Sun declining from our sight.
Begins the day with our Antypodes :
And shall I die, and this unconquered :
[Part II, Act V, Sc. iii. 139-150]
Noteworthy in the first of these passages are the frequent
long pauses which give weight and emphasis to the thought,
the actor's voice dwelling upon the significant words, which.
viii TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
as usually with Marlowe, tend to fall at the ends of the
lines (lines 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9.) ^ Individual words
are also isolated here and there ; ' soules ' by the succeed-
ing comma, ' Architecture ' and ' Spheares ' by the capital
letter. 2 The second passage is of a different character.
Tamburlaine's emotion hurries him on and the stopping is
relatively light ; commas alone are used,^ with the excep-
tion of the emphatic pauses to emphasize the words ' Affrica '
(line 2) and ' Antypodes ' (line 11). The octavo seems, on
the whole, to be an example of judicious rhythmical pointing
and it is with great regret and some misgivings that an
editor attempts to translate it into the relatively less
significant modern form.
I have kept the old stage directions when they occur,
rather than those of subsequent editors, for their pictur-
esqueness and, in general, their succinctness. There seems
no need to discard these indications of Elizabethan stage
procedure in favour of the more conventional modern forms,
especially in a play in which they are relatively full and
graphic. When it has been necessary to supply one not
given in the old texts I have taken that of Dyce or Wagner.
This system has been applied also to the titles of the persons
and the prefixes of lines ; where the old version needed
elucidation, this has been added in a footnote.
I am deeply indebted to several friends without whose
assistance certain parts of this work could not have been
attempted ; to Professor C. F. Tucker Brooke for the
readings of the 1597 octavo and for the invaluable aid of
his conclusions on the relations of the four texts ; to Dr.
W. W. Greg for the loan of books and for advice on many
bibliographical details and to Professor R. H. Case, the
general editor of the series, for guidance and suggestions
1 See Simpson, 31, 35.
2 Simpson, 7, 43, i.
^ The commas are used in various ways ; many of those in the second
quotation are pecuhar to EHzabethan pointing and will be explained by
a study of the following sections of Mr. Simpson's book : 2 (1. 7 (i)), 6
(11. 6, 8), 7 (11. 3, 4 (i), 5 (i)). 10 (1. 7 (ii)), II (11. 4 (ii). 5 ("). 9, lo).
PREFACE ix
on many points. For further suggestions and criticism, for
checking of translations, notes and text, I wish to thank
Miss D. Tarrant, Miss E. Seat on. Monsieur R. Pruvost,
Miss J. H. Perry, Miss E. Boswell, Miss H. Northcott
and Miss P. Ashburner. For permission to reprint, in
Appendix D (p. 299), a portion of Chap. XII of Mr. Guy
le Strange's The Embassy of Clavijo in the series Broad-
way Travellers, I wish to thank the pubHshers, George
Routledge and Sons, Ltd. Finally, I should like to acknow-
ledge the suggestions made in the discussion of the play
by the students of my seminar class and the unfailing
courtesy and assistance rendered by the officials of the
British Museum Library.
U. M. E.-F.
St. John's Wood,
London,
April, 1930
MAPS
Asia ......... Frontispiece
Africa ....... Facing page 178
Reproduced from Ortelius : Tkeatrum Orbis Terrarum, 1584
CONTENTS
Preface .....
Introduction ....
I Early Editions
II Date of the Play
III Authorship of the Play
IV Sources of the Play
V The Stage History of Tamburlaine
The First Part of Tamburlaine the Great
The Second Part of Tamburlaine the Great
Appendices :
(A) The Text of Tamburlaine I and II
(B) Later Editions ......
(C) Fortescue's Foreste : Chapter XIV
(D) Extracts from other accounts of Tamburlaine
(E) Short Book List ......
Index to Proper Names .....
General Index
PACK
V
I
I
6
II
17
61
63
179
281
283
286
298
303
309
313
XI
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN COLLATIONS, ETC.
Oj . The octavo edition of 1590. See Introduction I and Appendix A .
*-^2 • »> >> >> ^593' >> >>
03 . „ „ „ 1597- >.
04 . „ ,, ,, 1605-6 „
Rob. . Robinson's edition of 1826. See Appendix E.
Wag. . Wagner's ,, ,, 1885.
T.B. . The Oxford Edition (1910), by C. F. Tucker Brooke.
(For other references in collations and footnotes where the name of the
author only is mentioned, see Appendix E under the name.)
N.E.D. The New Oxford English Dictionary.
T.L.S. The Times Literary Supplement
O Bodleian Library
Hn. Huntington Library
L British Museum Library
XU
TAMBURLAINE THE
GREAT
INTRODUCTION
I
EARLY EDITIONS
THE two parts of Tamhurlaine have come down to
us in four editions ; nine complete copies and two
fragments. The earliest edition, of which there
is one copy in the Bodleian Library and one in the Hunting-
ton Library, is that of 1590 (Oj). The title-page runs :
' Tamburlaine | the Great. | Who, from a Scythian Shep-
hearde, | by his rare and woonderfull Conquests, | became a
most puissant and migh | tye Monarque. | And (for his tyranny,
and terrour in | Warre) was tearmed, | The Scourge of God. |
Devided into two Tragicall Dis | courses, as they were sundrie
times I shewed upon Stages in the Citie | of London. | By the
right honorable the Lord | Admyrall, his servantes. | Now
first, and newlie published. | [Device] | London. | Printed by
Richard Ihones : at the signe | of the Rose and Crowne
neere Hoi | borne Bridge. 1590.' This volume is an octavo
in Black Letter, (A — KgLg^) and the Huntington copy, upon
which the present text is based, is in a better state of preserva-
tion than the Bodleian copy, in which the margins have
been cut down so that the ends of lines are occasionally
missing, 1 or the pages mutilated so that the last lines on
1 Part I, Act III, Sc. iii, 11. 27, 28, 30, 36, 40, 44, 47. Part II, Act II,
Sc. i, 11. 2, 3, 4.
1 1
2 TAMBURLAINE THE GREAT
each side of a leaf are gone/ while in one case a whole leaf,
Kg, is torn out.^
The second edition is that of 1593, O2 (since 1850 generally
referred to as 1592), an 8vo in Black Letter (A — Igy.) of
which the only copy is in the British Museum Library. The
title-page runs like that of the Oi (with slight variations
in spelling only) for the first half and then continues : * The
first part of the two Tragicall dis | courses, as they were
sundrie times most | stately shewed upon Stages in the |
Citie of London. | By the right honorable the Lord Admirall, |
his servauntes. | Now newly published. | [Device] Printed by
Richard lones, dwelling at the signe of | the Rose and Crowne
neere Holborne | Bridge. 1593.' In spite of the implication
in the words ' The first part ', the second part has no separate
title-page but only, like Oi, a half-title. ^ The type is smaller
and the lines more closely set than those of Oi, but apart
from the somewhat cramped effect of the close type, it is
an eminently readable copy. The last figure of the date on
the title-page is imperfect ; if a 2, it lacks the serif common
to the other 2s of the fount, and if a 3, it lacks the lower
lobe. It has been customary since Dyce's edition of 1850
to refer to it as the 1592 edition and scholars such as Wagner
have explained the discrepancy by suggesting that the 2
had been artificially converted into a 3. But the older
commentators from Langbaine to Brought on have, as I have
shown elsewhere,* consistently referred to a 1593 edition
and never to a 1592. The older nomenclature has been
reverted to in the present edition.
The third edition, that of 1597, O3, though known to
J. P. Collier,^ was lost to sight until the sale of the New-
digate Library in 1920, when it passed into the Huntington
1 Part I, Act IV, Sc. iii, 11. 42-6 and Sc. iv, S.D. ' with others ' — 1. 2.
2 The Hn. copy is on the whole a clear and readable text with relatively
few imperfectly inked or broken words or letters. In Sig. G and one or
two other sheets the printing on one page has made that of the previous
page obscure.
3 See Part II, Heading, p. 182. * See my note in T.L.S., June 1929.
^ See the note upon the 1597 text which he sent to Cunningham and
which Cunningham reproduced on p. 368 of his edition of Marlowe's works.
INTRODUCTION 3
Library and has since been available for reference.^ It is
also a Black Letter octavo (A — Lg). The title-page runs :
' Tamburlaine | the Great. | Who, from the state of | a shep-
heard in Scythia, by his | rare and wonderful Conquests,
be I came a most puissant and mightie | Monarque. | As it
was acted : by the right Ho | norable, the Lord Admyrall |
his servauntes. | [Device : McKerrow, No. 283] ^ | Printed
at London by Richard lohnes : at the Rose | and Crowne,
next above St. Andrewes | Church in Holborne. 1597.' The
second part has, again, only a half-title,^ but ' a portrait of
Zenocrate fills the blank half-page of F5 (recto) at which
|