T H E L IFE WI L LIA M S HA KES P EA R E E! PU RG AT E D WI L L I AM L EA‘VITT STO D DA RD HA RVARD ) “ No n c anjmu s su rdis. BO STO N W A BU TTE RFI E L D . 59 BRO M FI ELD STREET P ROLOGUE I t seems a kin d of respect du e to the memory o excellen t men es eciall o those o he f , p y f wh m t ir wit an d learn in have made amou r g f s, to delive some accou n t o themselves as well as o their f , f works to r For this r aso oste it . e how on d , p y n , f do we see some people of the great men of an ti u it their amilies the om on a id t o q y; f , c m cc en s f their lives an d even their ha e make an d , s p , , eatu r h b b t o r f es ave een the su jec f critical en qu i ies . How tri in soever this cu riosit ma seem to be fl g y y , it is certain ly very n atu ral; an d w e are hardly satisfied with an accou n t of an y remarkable per son till we have heard him described to the very he w ar A or ha r la t clot s h e e s . s f w t e tes o men of letters the kn owled e o an au thor ma sometimes , g f y on du ce to the better u n derstan din o his book c g f , hakes eare ma an d thou gh the works of M r . S p y em to man n ot t o wan t a commen t et I an c se y , y f y some little accou n t of the man himself may n ot — ’ ro r m s s be thought imp pe . Fro Nichola Rowe 1 7 9 . Account of the Life of Shakespeare , 0 I have n ot sou ht I sa n or do I seek either g , ( y) ’ or e or sn are men s u d men ts bu t I lead to f c en j g , them to thin gs themselves an d the con cordan ces o thin s that the ma ee or themselves what f g , y y s f the have what the can dis u te what th e can y , y p , y And add an d con tribu te to the common stock . or m sel i in an thin I have been either too f y f, f y g P rologu e c edu lou s or too little aw ake an d atten tive or i r , f I have fallen 01? by the w ay an d left the in qu iry in com lete n everth eles s I so resen t these thin s p , p g n aked an d o en that m errors can b e marked p , y an d set aside b efore the mass of kn owledge be m ” fu rther infected by the . From Franci s ’ Bacon s P reface to the Great Instauration ’ d in (Spe d g s translation) . C NTENTS O . P A GE P ROLO GUE CONCERNING OTHER LI VE S O F SHAK E SPEARE JOHN SHAK ESPEARE IN THE RE CORDS WI LLI AM SHAK ESPEARE IN THE RECORDS ’ SHAK ESPEARE S WI LL P OEMS ASCRIB ED TO SHAK ESPEARE O F STRAT FORD C T M ! A U S S ON E PORAR LL ION , REAL AND S T WI LLI AM S K S PO ED , O HA E PEARE EVIDENCES FROM THE P LA! S AND P OEMS THE FIRST FOLIO EPILO GU E BIBLIO GRAPH! INDE! T H E L I F E O F WI L L I A M S H A K E S P E A R E E ! P U R G A T E D P ONE CHA TER . CONCERNING OTHER LIVES OF E E SHAK SP ARE . L m m en m I ike ost of y generation , have never been ab l e from any one volume to obtain a * clear idea of Shakespeare : with the works bearing that name I could and did become s m s rea onably fa iliar and greatly plea ed , but of the m an who wrote them I w as for a long time . I m ignorant Naturally , turned for infor ation - I to the biographies of the poet actor . But m w as m s . doo ed to a di appoint ent For there , s m m s in the welter of quoted , copied , and o eti e ” m s m s s photographed docu ent , a ong allu ion that alluded to Shakespeare and allusions h im all con fu that did not allude to at , in the sion of skilfully deployed adverbs implying various degrees of uncertainty in the m ind of “ ” “ ” as ss the biographer ( , doubtle , probably , “ ” t an le credibly , and their kind) , in the g of ar gumen t s supporting now one theory of author s I m s s hip and now another, felt y elf trangely l ost s s s , like a per on who earche in vain through Throu ghou t this book I have ado pted t h e la! y expedien t of s ellin a e a in a o I am aw a e a W am p g Sh k spe re this f shi n . r th t illi Shakespeare of Stratford is n o t kn ow n t o have employed this o o a an d I am aw a e a m an of t h e a an d oem s rth gr phy, r th t y pl ys p a ea e w t h e en a e n a u e w hi as far as I can pp r d ith hyph t d sig t r , ch , d sco e Wi iam Sha es ea e of S a o n e e em o e . I i v r, ll k p r tr tf rd v r pl y d t seem ed e all in all t o adhe e t o a s m e on en on . b st, , r i pl c v ti ‘ William S hakespeare a volume for something which the title-page h as m s pro i ed to include , but which he cannot . m I find At the end of an ar ful of books w as , m m n if anything, farther away fro the a Shake s I peare than when began . W m s hat , for exa ple , did Shake peare do when w as ? W o s he a boy here did he g to chool , ” ss o not where did he doubtle g , but where ? Wh o h is ms h i really were chu , and later s friends ; and why no letters from h im to them? Wh s h is s y did he not publi h own play , or at least prevent wholesale piracy and the despair of modern editors ? How could a man be so careful about h is second-best bed and so care less about h is poetry ? I can never be certain whether the young man of the sonnets w as Mary — m . H . s Fitton or Mr W. there are argu ent — w as s for both or whether Mr . W. H . one who e ll in it ials s m s s W. H . a , as o e in i t , were not at , but out of quite another part of the alphabet . In lieu of reconciling all the divergent and s s s vigorou ly debated opinion about Shake peare , it became my amusement to test each new biography of the poet on one subj ect : Did ? s Shakespeare poach Are we thi year , or are s ? On we not , to believe the tory the face of is m m it , it extre ely probable that a country an of twenty Odd years Should steal deer and be thrashed for it . But , on the face of it , again , it is extremely improbable that the greatest s and mo st learned poet in the language hould , m m m fall a arried an with a growing fa ily , into “ ” Other Lives of Shakespeare 3 ? W a such ways . Still , who can tell hat h ve t h e biographers done with the story ? My experience is that the authenticity of t h e m yarn depends on the biography of the oment . m On e is reminded of a clever French an who , discussing certain phases of the Shakespeare s m Revu e des Deu x sonnet , re arked in the M on des "‘ ’ n fin ss s E M . Gerald Ma ey oulagea d un s s s désinfectan t grand poi la con cience Anglai e en , ’ ’ I i-m em l es s s c est u e qui S en vante , onnet de é é és Shakespeare . Le proc d de d infection con i ait m m a s m s st , tout Si ple ent divi er arbitraire ent r les sonnets en person n els et en d amatiqu es .