the virtues which soothe their perplexities and give us courage and endurance to wait, as well as confidence to trust the final issues-the virtues of forgiveness and generosity, of forbearance and self-control-are largely illustrated. This is a characteristic feature in each of these closing dramas, in The Winter's Tale, Cymbeline, and The Tempest. The Tempest is supposed, on tolerably good grounds, to be Shakespeare's last work, and in it we see the great magician, having gained by the wonderful experience of life, and the no less wonderful practice of his art, serene wisdom, clear and enlarged vision, and beneficent self-control, break his magical wand and retire from the scene of his triumphs to the home he had chosen amidst the woods and meadows of the Avon, and surrounded by the family and friends he loved. VENUS AND ADONIS. Preface. Early Editions. "Venus and Adonis" was first printed in Quarto, in 1593, with the following title-page: VENVS AND ADONIS Vilia mirelur vulgus ; mihi flauus Apollo PRINTER'S DEVICE : An anchor with the motto Anchora spei LONDON: Imprinted by Richard Field, and are to be sold at 1593. The text of "Venus and Adonis" is remarkable for its accuracy, and there can be little doubt that the poet himself superintended the printing of the poem, and was responsible for the wording of the title-page. A significant fact is Shakespeare's choice of the printer: Richard Field was the son of Henry Field, a tanner of Stratfordon-Avon; he was apprenticed to a printer in London in the year 1579, and took up his freedom in 1587. Amongst his earliest enterprises was a beautiful edition of Ovid's Metamorphoses, 1589. In 1592, Shakespeare's father, at Stratford, was engaged in appraising Henry Field's goods; in 1593, in London, Richard Field was engaged in printing William Shakespeare's first poem: the copyright was registered by the printer, for himself, on April the 18th. The publisher of the first three editions was Field's friend, John Harrison. The popularity of the poem is attested by the issue of no less than twelve subsequent editions between 1593 and 1636;* of some of these editions only single copies have come down to us, and it is probable that some editions have been thumbed out of existence. The famous Isham unique copy of the 1599 issue was by mere chance discovered in 1867; † similarly, evidence may be found of other editions, more especially between the years 1596 and 1599, 1602 and 1627. Date of Composition. Shakespeare, in his Dedication. to the Earl of Southampton,‡ describes the poem of * 1594; 1596: 1599; (?) 1600; 1602 (British Museum); 1602 (Bodleian); 1617; 1620; 1627; 1630; (?) 1630; 1636. Cp. Charles Edmond's reprint of his precious “find.” 1870. A fac-simile of the First Edition is among Dr. Furnivall's Quarto Fac-similes (No. 12). The Earl of Southampton was at this time about twenty; he was born October 6, 1573: his father died in 1581; at the age of twelve he entered St. John's College, Cambridge. Entered at Gray's Inn, London, 1589. He rose in the Queen's favour, but his love for Elizabeth Vernon (Essex's cousin) lost him the Queen's interest, in 1595. He married Elizabeth Vernon in 1598. (A full biography is given in Massey's Shakespeare's Sonnets.) Chettle was probably alluding to Southampton when, in his Kind Heart's Dream (1592) he refers "to divers of worship" who report Shakespeare's "uprightness of dealing," and his "facetious grace in writing." |