A Textual Study of Robert Greene's Orlando Furioso with an Elizabethan Text Tetsumaro Hayashi BALL STATE MONOGRAPH NUMBER TWENTY-ONE t, ," - A Textual Study of Robert Greene's Orlando Furioso with an Elizabethan Text Tetsumaro Hayashi Associate Professor of English Ball State University A SAE MOOGA UME WEYOE bltn n Enlh, . 15 ll Stt Unvrt, Mn, Indn 406 1973 This publication is not for sale. © Tetsumaro Hayashi 1973 Library of Congress Catalog Number: 73-620163 Dedicated to Richard J. Schoeck, Frances Rippy, and Reloy Garcia 11Mk:"•.! +A :M Contents vi Special Acknowledgments vii Preface 1 Chapter 1. Literary Introduction 1 A. Authorship 2 B. Performance Records 3 C. Date of Composition 4 D. Sources 5 E. Type of Play 12 Chapter II. Bibliographical Introduction 12 A. Bibliographical Description of A (Q1,1594) and B (Q2,1599) 13 B. Bibliographical Description of AM (the Alleyn Manuscript) 15 C. Modern Editions 15 1. 19th Century Editions: Dyce 1 and 2 and Grosart 15 2. 20th Century Editions: Collins, Greg, and Dickinson 15 D. Treatment of the Text 18 Chapter III. The Text of Orlando Furioso 18 A. Dramatis Personae 19 B. Text 61 C. The Alleyn Manuscript 75 D. Explanatory Notes 92 Appendix: Key to Abbreviations Special Acknowledgments The Executors of the late Sir Walter Greg, Mr. Michael Pearson of Janson, Cobb, Pearson and Co. (22 College Hill, London, E.C. 4, England), Mr. William Armstrong of Sidgwick and Jackson, Ltd. (Bloomsbury Way, London, WC 1A 25G, England), and the late Professor Greg's publisher graciously granted me permissions to quote the distinguished scholar's tran- scribed Alleyn Manuscript, with a few revisions, in this monograph. Mr. Roy S. Simmonds, a cherished friend of mine in England, was kind enough to introduce me to these generous people. Dr. Louis Marder, the second reader of this monograph, meticulously read the manuscript and gave me construc- tive criticism. Dr. David George of the Folger Shakespeare Library read the manuscript in its first stage and advised me on the overall structure. Dr. Casey Tucker, Chairman of the Faculty Publications Committee at Ball State University, and his associates on the committee, notably Dr. Daryl Adrian and Professor Donald Siefker, among other members, believed in the value of this monograph and accepted my manuscript for publication. To these scholars, friends, specialist readers, and the Ball State University Faculty Publications Committee I owe my profound gratitude. vi Preface This textual study of Robert Greene's Orlando Furioso is intended to make available an objective and readable Elizabethan text of one of Robert Greene's controversial comedies; this should clarify those aspects of his vocabulary most troublesome for contemporary students of Elizabethan drama and explain Greene's quotations and classical allusions. Thus my primary objective is to establish a concise and authentic text so designed as to elimi- nate those textual difficulties which cloud Greene's genius in the eyes of a critical modern world. To this end, necessary explanatory notes follow the text. It is not my wish here to cross swords with my predecessors, some of whom have regrettably chosen to engage in critical warfare at Robert Greene's expense; rather, I hope to indicate a community of venture in which no one person has the sole grasp of esthetic truth. While I sometimes disagree with my predecessors, I freely acknowledge a general debt to them, in particular to Alexander Dyce, Alexander B. Grosart, J. Churton Collins, W. W. Greg, and Thomas H. Dickinson, whose editions I profitably consulted once my own collation of A (Q1, 1594) and B (Q2, 1599), and my examination of AM (the Alleyn Manuscript) were completed. Taken together, our separate editions—each making its own unique contribution—provide a fuller picture of the text. The distinctive features of this study, I feel, are the following: (1) an objective treatment of explanatory notes; (2) readable and concise defini- tions and explanations of all difficult, controversial, misleading, or archaic words and spellings; (3) the inclusion of the Alleyn Manuscript itself, with an indication of words or lines either substantially different from the quartos or missing altogether; (4) English translations of both Greene's Italian quotation from Ariosto (11. 732-739) and the Latin "quotation" (11. 1275-1284), which are not included in previous editions; (5) an extensive list of explained classical and geographical references; (6) and, finally, the more extensive inclusion of italicized stage directions, settings, and a list of characters for easy isolation and analysis. My introduction includes a brief statement of the essential nature of the play, detailed descriptions and analyses of the quartos, and the Alleyn Manuscript, and a list of modern editions, and a statement of governing textual principles. vii During the preparation of this manuscript, I accumulated many debts. Dr. Richard W. Burkhardt, Vice President for Instructional Affairs of Ball State University, Dr. Charles Smith, Jr., Director of the Office of Research, and Dr. David Costill, Chairman of the University Research Committee, were instrumental in awarding me a 1971 Summer Research Grant. This grant allowed me, during June and July of 1971, to work at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.; the Folger staff and administrators extended to me the most cordial assistance. Dr. 0. B. Hardison, Jr., Director of the Folger Shakespeare Library, Dr. Richard J. Schoeck, Director of Research Activities, Dr. James G. McManaway, former Editor of the Shake- speare Quarterly, and their colleagues, all graciously assisted me in the project. Without their assistance, I could not have completed the major portion of my project in so short a time. Dr. Dick A. Renner, Chairman of the English Department at Ball State University, initially endorsed this project in 1970 and encouraged me to complete it. Dr. Robert Lordi, Professor of English at the University of Notre Dame, and Dr. Virginia Woods Callahan, Pro- fessor of Classics at Howard University, verified and translated the Latin "quotations." Dr. Bruce Hozcski, my colleague at Ball State University, trans- lated several Latin phrases and proverbs in the text. Professor Johnstone Parr, Robert Greene specialist and textual scholar at Kent State University, meticulously advised me on this project after it was submitted to the Ball State University Faculty Publications Committee. Dr. Reloy Garcia, a gifted scholar at Creighton University, proofread the manuscript and advised me especially on the literary and bibliographical introductions. Dr. Richard W. Burkhardt, Vice President for Instructional Affairs of Ball State University, awarded me the special typing grant that enabled me to hire a very competent typist, Miss Monica Hilton. Mrs. Zilpha Danner, Secretary of the English Department, assisted me in securing the dependable typist. Miss Joanne Reed, my secretary, typed the introduction when it was in the second draft stage. And last but most important, I should like to publicly acknowledge my wife, Akiko, whose patient understanding in a time of extreme duress provided the moral sustenance, without which scholarship is but a lonely, empty, intellectual exercise. To these scholars, editors, librarians, adminis- trators, and friends, I express my profound gratitude. Tetsumaro Hayashi viii Chapter I Literary Introduction A. Authorship The authorship of Orlando Furioso might be inferred from Robert Greene's own facetious reference to himself and the play on words in The Defence of Conny-Catching (published in 1592, Stationers' Register, April 21, 1592), in which the writer (narrator) accuses Greene of first selling the manuscript to the Queen's Men for twenty nobles and then of selling it once again to the Admiral's Men when they came to the city later: But now Sir by your leaue a little, what if I should proue you a Conny- catcher Maister R. G. Would it not make you blush at the matter? Ile go as neare to it as the Fryer did to his Hostesse mayde, when the Clarke of the parish took him at Leuatent at midnight. Aske the Queens Players, if you sold them not Orlando Furioso for twenty Nobles, and when they were in the country, sold the same Play to the Lord Admirals men for as much more. Was not this plaine Conny-catching Maister R. G.? 1 Since the title pages of the two extant quartos of Orlando Furioso do not bear the author's name, and since the Stationers' Register entry of December 7, 1592, makes no mention of Greene, 2 this statement is the only known printed evidence of Greene's authorship. Furthermore, we can deduce from the same statement that the Queen's Men were the original owners, and as the fortunes of the Queen's Men began to languish in 1588 when Tarleton died and Wilson left them, Alleyn bought the play from the Queen's Men. 3 Lastly, the Dulwich Manuscript, hereafter called the Alleyn Manuscript or simply AM, which is Alleyn's (Orlando's) speaking part, and which ap- proaches the play's original form far more closely than either A or B, con- tains corrections and insertions in Alleyn's own hand, a fact which further attests to the historical richness and literary significance of the reference in The Defence of Conny-Catching. 4 1 Grosart (ed.), XI, 75-76. 2 Arber (ed.), II, 641 and 650. °G. B. Harrison (ed.), An Elizabethan Journal (1591-1594). 3 vols. (London: Constable, 1928), I, 257. 'W. W. Greg (ed.), Henslowe's Diary (London: A. H. Bullet:, 1908), II, 150. 1 B. Performance Records In his Diary, Philip Henslowe records the performance of Orlando Furioso at the Rose theater by Lord Strange's Men, an "old play" which presumably was the occasion during which Alleyn's role as Orlando was performed: "Rd at orlando, the 21 of febreay 1591/1592 .