ART. I.-The Will of Thomas Phaer, the poet and translator from Virgil. By Peter Cunningham, Esq. ART. II.—Account of an early Italian Poem on the story of Romeo and Juliet. By a MEMBER FROM THE FIRST ART. III.-Some account of the popular tracts which composed the Library of Captain Cox, a humourist who took a part in the Hock Tuesday Play performed before Queen Elizabeth at Kenil- worth, in 1575. By J. O. HALLIWELL, Esq. ART. IV.—Richard Field, (the printer of Shakespeare's Venus and Adonis and Lucrece) Nathaniel Field, Anthony Munday, and Henry Chettle. By J. PAYNE COLLIER, Esq. ART. V.-Three New Privy Seals, for Players in the time of Shake- speare. By T. EDLYNE TOMLINS, Esq. ART. VI.—Two additional Notes on the play of Henry VI., Part II. ART. VII.-Extract from a Manuscript at Oxford, containing a memorandum of the complaints against Dethick, the herald who made the grant of arms to John Shakespeare. By J. O. HALLI- ART. VIII.-Original History of "The Theatre," in Shoreditch, and connexion of the Burbadge family with it. By J. PAYNE ART. IX.-Two specimens of the Poetry of Philip Stubbes, author of The Anatomy of Abuses, 1583, and the enemy of theatrical ART. X.-The Whitefriars Theatre, the Salisbury Court Theatre, and the Duke's Theatre in Dorset Gardens. By PETER CUN- ART. XI.-The Players who acted in The Shoemakers' Holiday, 1600, a Comedy by Thomas Dekker and Robert Wilson. By ART. XII.-On Norton and Sackville, the authors of Gorboduc, the earliest blank verse Tragedy in our language. By J. PAYNE ART. XIII.—A few observations on the composition of the Mid- summer Night's Dream. By J. O. HALLIWELL, Esq. ART. XIV.-On Massinger's Believe me as you List, a newly dis- covered manuscript Tragedy, printed by the Percy Society. By ART. XV.-Beaumont and Fletcher's Woman's Prize: the day ART. XVII.-Dispute between the Earl of Worcester's players and the Corporation of Leicester in 1586: from the records of ART. XVIII.-Dryden, Killigrew, and the first company which acted at Drury Lane Theatre. By J. PAYNE COLLIER, Esq. 147 ART. XIX.-Will of Samuel Daniel, the poet, Shakespeare's rival THE SHAKESPEARE SOCIETY'S PAPER S. ART. I.-The Will of Thomas Phaer, the poet and translator from Virgil. Thomas Phaer, a copy of whose will I enclose as a communication to "The Shakespeare Society's Papers," was the earliest English translator of any extensive portion of Virgil. Little has hitherto been known about him. He was born in Pembrokeshire, and educated at Oxford and Lincoln's Inn. Sir Thomas Chaloner commends him as "a most skilful physician;" and he describes himself, on the title-page of the first edition of his translation of Virgil, as "Thomas Phaer, Esq., Sollicitour to the King and Quenes Maiesties, attending their honorable counsaile in the Marchies of Wales." It was known before that the Epitaph on Phaer, in the church of Kilgerran, in Pembrokeshire, was written by George Ferrers, the poet, but not previously known that it was written at the request, as the will shows, of Phaer himself." Nor was it previously known that Phaer was a married man, and that he had left a widow and children-small enough circumstances in biography, it is true, but of importance when 1 Our readers will not be sorry to see in a note the Epitaph on Phaer, which was written by B. Googe, and printed in his "Eglogs, Epytaphes, VOL. IV. B the person to whom they relate is distinguished, as Phaer is distinguished, in the literature of his country. [Extracted from the Registry of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury.] "In the name of gode amen, The xijth daye of the moneth of August, the yere of or Lorde God, a thowsand fyue hun and Sonettes," 1563: from that time to the present it has never been republished, and is as follows: "AN EPYTAPHE OF MAISTER THOMAS PHAYRE. "The hawtie verse that Maro wrote, made Rome to wonder muche, And mervayle none; for why? the style and waightynes was suche, That all men judged Parnassus mount had clefte her selfe in twayne, And brought forth one that seemd to drop from out Minervae's brayne. But wonder more may Bryttayne great, And barreyne tong with swete accord reduced to such estate, That Virgil's verse had greater grace, in forrayne foote obtaynde, Than in his own, who, whilst he lyved, eche other poet staynde. The noble H. Hawarde once, that raught eternall fame, With mighty style did bryng a pece of Virgil's worke in frame. and Douglas wan the ball, had made an ende of all. But all these same did Phayre excell, I dare presume to wryte, As much as doth Apolloe's beames the dymmest starre in lyght, dred and syxtie, and the yere of the reigne of or sou'raigne lady Elizabet, by the grace of God Quene of Eynglond, Fraunce, and Eyrlond, defender of the faith, etc., the seconde, I, Thomas Phaer, of Kilgerran, in the Dioc of Sainte Dauids, being of whole mynd and good and prfecte remembraunce, lawde and praise be vnto allmightie Gode, make and ordeigne this my prsente testament concernyng herein my laste Will, in man'r and forme followinge, that is to say :-First, I comende my soule vnto Allmightie God, my maker and redemer: and my body to be bured in the p'ishe churche of Kilgerran, wtb a stone vpon my grave, in man' of a marble stone, with suche Scripture thereupon, graven in brasse, as shalbe devised by my frynd Mr. George fferers: Item, I doe gyve and bequeth vnto Gruffyth ap Eynon, my sonne in lawe, the somme of twentie pounds, vpon condicion that he do make vnto my doughter Elyno', his wiffe, a good, sure, and sufficient estate in the lawe of and in all that his two tenements and The envious fates (O pytie great!) had great disdayne to see, That us amongst there shuld remayne And, in the mydst of all his toyle, dyd force hym hence to wende, And leave a Worke unperfyt so, That never man shall ende." The death of Phaer was accelerated, if not produced, by an injury he sustained in the right hand. It will be seen that his will is dated 12 August, 1560, and he had finished the ninth book of Virgil, as we learn at the end of it, on 3rd April, preceding: he then set about the tenth book, which he left unfinished. In 1562, William Wightman, who calls himself Receptour of Wales, edited the nine books and part of the tenth, as Phaer had left them, telling the reader, that in consequence of the accident, the translator was obliged to sign the last lines of his version with his left hand, in the following form, "Thomas Phaer, olim tuus, nunc Dei." There can be little doubt that his name to his original will, had it been preserved, would have been found to have been subscribed also with his left hand. |