THE PLAYS OF WILLIAM SHAKSPEARE, ACCURATELY PRINTED FROM THE TEXT OF THE CORRECTED COPIES LEFT BY THE LATE GEORGE STEEVENS, ESQ., AND EDMOND MALONE, Esq. WITH MR. MALONE'S VARIOUS READINGS; A SELECTION OF EXPLANATORY AND HISTORICAL NOTES, FROM THE MOST EMINENT COMMENTATORS; A History of the Stage, and a Life of Shakspeare; BY ALEXANDER CHALMERS, F.S.A. A NEW EDITION, IN EIGHT VOLUMES. VOLUME II. TWELFTH NIGHT. MEASURE FOR MEASURE. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. LONDON: Printed for F. C. and J. Rivington; T. Egerton; J. Cuthell; J. Scatcherd; Longman There is great reason to believe, that the serious part of this Comedy is founded on some old translation of the seventh history in the fourth volume of Belleforest's Histoires Tragiques. Belleforest took the story, as usual, from Bandello. The comic scenes appear to have been entirely the production of Shakspeare. It is not impossible, however, that the circumstances of the Duke sending his Page to plead his cause with the Lady, and of the Lady's falling in love with the Page, &c. might be borrowed from the Fifth Eglog of Barnaby Googe, published with his other original poems, in 1563. "A worthy Knyght dyd love her longe, "And to entreate for grace to her "This passed well, tyll at the length "With many teares besechynge her Thus also concludes the first scene of the third act of the play before us: "And so adieu, good madam; never more "Will I my master's tears to you deplore." I offer no apology for the length of the foregoing extract, the book from which it is taken being so uncommon, that only one copy, except that in my own possession, has hitherto occurred. |