(Reprinted for convenience of reference, from Vol. I, p. 8.)

In "Palladis Tamia, or Wits Treasury," printed in 1598, Meres thus writes:

As Plautus and Seneca are accounted the best for Comedy and Tragedy among the Latines; so Shakespere among ye English is the most excellent in both kinds for the stage: for Comedy, witnes his Getleme of Verona, his Errors, his Love labors lost, his Love labors wonne, his Midsummer night dreame, and his Merchant of Venice: for Tragedy his Richard the 2, Richard the 3, Henry the 4, King John, Titus Andronicus, and his Romeo and Juliet."

This Table shows, as correctly as can now be ascertained, the

Fourteen of Shakespeare's Plays were surreptitiously published, several without the author's supervision; these are known as the Early Quartos: of some, no copy remains-Stationers' Hall having been injured in the Great Fire of London, 1666.

The First Folio was printed in 1623, the Second Folio in 1632, and the Third Folio in 1664. The Second and Third Folios are so carelessly edited that their authority is worthless. But the Third Folio, contains Seven Plays, not hitherto included in Shakespeare's Works: LOCRINE, SIR JOHN OLDCASTLE, THOMAS LORD CROMWELL, THE YORKSHIRE TRAGEDY,

THE LONDON PRODIGAL,
PERICLES,

THE PURITAN.

Of these Plays "Pericles" is the only one received by English editors; the others have been admitted by several German commentators.

1593.

Besides Thirty-Seven Plays, Shakespeare is author of the following Poems: VENUS AND ADONIS, THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM, &c., 1599. TARQUIN AND LUCRECE, 1594. SONNETS (154 in number), 1609. Many of the Sonnets must have been written before 1598: for in that year, Meres, in his "Palladis Tamia," thus writes-implying that he was personally acquainted with Shakespeare:

"As the soul of Euphorbus was thought to live in Pythagoras, so the sweet witty soul of Ovid lives in mellifluous and honey-tongued Shakespere. Witness his Venus and Adonis, his Lucrece, his sugred Sonnets among his private friends," &c. (Wits Treasury, p. 282.)

6

PERICLES,

PRINCE OF TYRE.

(

In this Chronological Arrangement of Shakespeare's Tragedies, the earliest place is assigned to "Pericles, Prince of Tyre." On reference to Meres' List (see page 6), the first non-historical play is "Titus Andronicus": but a later authority, John Dryden-the greatest poet and dramatist of the seventeenth century, a man well versed in all the traditions of the stage, the friend and associate of Sir William D'Avenant,-has left this record of his great prede

cessor

а

"Shakespeare's own Muse her Pericles first bore:
"The Prince of Tyre is older than the Moor." b

There is, however, little doubt that this tragedy, like several of the earlier plays, was merely a reproduction of an older Drama, revised and retouched by the youthful hand of Shakespeare, (particularly in the Fifth Act). No publication exists of this old drama, but it was once very popular. In 1596, the writer of "Pymlico, or Runne Redcap," refers to it as a well-known and attractive play prior to that year:

"Amazde I stood to see a crowd

Of civil throats stretch'd out so lowd;
(As at a 'new play,) all the roomes

Did swarme with gentiles mixed with groomes;
So that I truly thought all these
Came to see Shore, or Pericles."

Shakespeare's first attempts at dramatic alteration belong to about 1589; and rapidly in the following years, he became celebrated as an author; and then (when his fame was established) the successful Poet's earliest effort was eagerly sought for and produced. Therefore it was not till 1608 that this Play was entered in the Stationers' Register; and in 1609 it was first published, with the following title-page :

"The Late and much admired Play, called Pericles, Prince of Tyre, with the true Relation of the whole Historie, adventures, and fortunes of the said Prince: As also, the no less strange and worthie accidents, in the Birth and Life, of his Daughter Mariana. As it hath been diuers and sundry times acted by his Maiestie's Seruants, at the Globe, on the Banck-side. By William Shakespeare. 1609."

Another edition followed in the same year, and again in 1611 and 1619. Notwithstanding its undoubted success and repeated publi

a See Dryden's Prologue to Charles D'Avenant's Tragedy of Circe" (1675). bAaron the Moor is the chief personage in "Titus Andronicus," generally considered to be Shakespeare's earliest tragedy. 7

cations, it was not printed in the First Folio of 1623 and it was not till the production of the Third Folio (of 1664) that it was included in any edition of Shakespeare's Works.-" Pericles" is, in regard to literary merit, greatly inferior-except, perhaps, in the Fifth Act-to any of his early tragedies; while the text is often so corrupt as to baffle the most ingenious of conjectural commentators; who have proved the poetic axiom, that

“True no-meaning puzzles more than wit.”

There is no doubt that the alleged author " did not oversee his owne writings," but that the public were again "abused" with "stolne and surreptitious copies." a

The story of" Pericles, Prince (or King) of Tyre," is found in the "Gesta Romanorum," and similar collections of old tales. It was the subject of a metrical romance by John Gower, (died 1402,) entitled "The Story of Appolonius the Prince of Tyre," in the "Confessio Amantis, or Stories of the Seven Deadly Sins," first printed in 1483; and of a Novel, by Twine, called "The Patterne of Painefull Adventers," published in 1576. The dramatist, however, is chiefly indebted to Gower's poem.

This Play, illustrating the vicissitudes of fortune, is essentially one of action, extending over many years, and into various countries. The author has therefore skilfully introduced the old Poet, John Gower himself, as a kind of Chorus,-to connect, by a rhyming narrative, the widely-separated Scenes and Incidents.

The Dramatis Personæ retained in this Condensation are:

ANTIOCHUS, King of Antioch.
PERICLES, Prince of Tyre.
HELICANUS, Two Lords of
ESCANES,
Tyre.
SIMONIDES, King of Pentapolis.a
CLEON, Governor of Tarsus.
LYSIMACHUS, Governor of Mity-
lene.

CERIMON, a Lord of Ephesus. 5
THALIARD, a Lord of Antioch.

DIONYZA, Wife to Cleon.

THAISA, Daughter to Simonides.
MARINA, Daughter to Pericles and
Thaisa.

LYCHORIDA, Nurse to Marina.
DIANA, Goddess of the Temple.
GOWER, as Chorus.

Lords, Ladies, Knights, Gentle-
men, Sailors, Pirates, Fisher-
men, and Messengers.

Scene-Dispersedly in various Countries.

с

a See "Preface of the Players," first folio, 1623. b Antioch, a city of Syria, on the river Orontes. Tyre, a seaport of Syria, on the Mediterranean-the ancient Queen of the Sea. d Pentapolis, an unlocalized city, belonging to poetical geography. • Tarsus (O. R. Tharsus) the ancient capital of Cilicia, on the river Cydnus. f Mitylene, the ancient capital of the Island of Lesbos, in the Grecian Archipelago. g Ephesus, once the most splendid city of Asia Minor, (on a bay of the Egean sea)-now a miserable Turkish village.

Before the Tragedy commences, while we are viewing the exterior of the Palace at Antioch, the Chorus-Poet approaches to deliver an explanatory Prologue :

Gower. To sing a song that 'old was sung,
From ashes ancient Gower is come,
Resuming man's infirmities,

To glad your ear, and please your eyes.
It hath been sung at festivals,
On ember-eves, and holy-ales ;°
And lords and ladies, in their lives
Have read it for restoratives.

If 'you, born in these latter times,
When wit's more ripe,-accept my rhymes,
And that, to hear an old man sing
May to your wishes pleasure bring,
I 'life would wish; and that I might
Waste it for 'you, like taper-light.-
This Antioch, then, Antiochus the Great
Built up; this city was his chiefest seat,
The fairest in all Syria,-

d

(I tell you what my authors say.)
This King unto him took a fere,a
Who died-and left a female heir
So buxom, blithe, and full of face,
As Heaven had lent her all its grace.
Bad 'child, worse 'father! To entice his own
To 'evil, should be done by none.-
The beauty of this sinful dame
Made many Princes thither frame'
To woo her: but he made a law,
(To keep 'her still, and 'men in awe,)
That, whoso asked her for his wife,-
His 'riddle told not,-lost his life:
So, for her many a wight did die,
As yon grim looks do testify.

What now 'ensues, to the judgement of your 'eye
I give, my cause who best can justify.s

[Exit.

The old Poet must be supposed to point to the heads of the unfortunate lovers exposed on the gates.

The First Scene discloses a Room within the Palace at Antioch. Antiochus, the Emperor, had been implicated in a secret crime, the nature of which is contained in a perplexing riddle. The Emperor's daughter, a princess of remarkable beauty, has been sought

John Gower, born about 1325, died 1408. d (pheer) a mate or companion (O. R. feer).

bO. R. assuming. ⚫ beautiful. defend, acquit from blame.

O. R. holy days. fproceed, resort.

for in marriage by many neighbouring princes, who, failing to solve the lady's mysterious statement, have already lost their lives. Pericles, the young Prince of Tyre, is the latest candidate; and he is thus reminded, by Antiochus himself, of the fatal consequence of failure to penetrate the hidden meaning of the enigmatical scroll:

Ant. Young Prince of Tyre, you have at large' received
The 'danger of the task you undertake?
Per. I have, Antiochus; and, with a soul

Emboldened with your daughter's praise,
Think death 'no hazard in 'this enterprize.
Ant. Yon sometime famous Princes, [impaled over the gates.

thyself

pointing to the heads

Drawn by 'report, adventurous by 'desire,

]—like

Tell thee, with speechless tongues and semblance pale,
That, without covering-save yon field of stars,-
'They here stand 'martyrs, slain in Cupid's wars;
And, with dead cheeks, advise thee-to desist
From going in Death's net, whom none resist.
Per. Antiochus, I thank thee, who hast taught
My frail mortality to know 'itself;

And, by those fearful objects, to prepare
'This body, like to 'them, to what I must:

For death, remembered, should be like a mirror
That tells us, Life 's but breath,-to trust it, error.
I'll make my 'will then; and, as sick men do

Who know the world, see 'heaven, but, feeling woe,
Grip not at 'earthly joys as erst they did:
So, I bequeath a happy 'peace, to 'you

And 'all good men, (as 'every prince should do);
My 'riches, to the earth from whence they came;
But to your daughter my unspotted 'love:
Thus, ready for the way of life or death,

I wait the sharpest blow.

Ant. Scorning advice!-Read the conclusion, then; [Giving
Which, read and 'not expounded, 't is decreed-
As these 'before thee, thou 'thyself shalt bleed.
Per. Like a bold champion, I assume the lists,"
Nor ask advice of any other thought

But faithfulness, and courage.

ain general terms.

b formerly.

CO. R. for going on.

a

d formerly.

The dramatist's riddle (which this arrangement of the play does not require to be
read) may be modified thus:
"I am no viper, yet I feed

He's father, son, and husband mild;
I, mother, wife, and yet his child.
How they may be, and yet in two,
As you will live, resolve it you."
genclosed ground for combatants.

On mother's flesh, which did me breed.
I seek a husband; though, I fear,
I lose by him a father dear:

fundertake, enter.