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ENGLISH

CLASSICS.

EDITED BY WM. J. ROLFE, A.M.

Illustrated. 16mo, Cloth, 56 cents per volume; Paper, 40 cents per volume.

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PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK.

Any of the above works will be sent by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the United States, on receipt of the price.

Copyright, 1879, by HARPER & BROTHERS.

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ROYAL ORATORY IN THE CATHEDRAL AT PRAGUE (14TH CENTURY).

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I. THE HISTORY OF THE PLAY.

The Winter's Tale, so far as we have any knowledge, was first printed in the folio of 1623, where it is the last of the "Comedies," occupying pages 277 to 303 inclusive.

Malone found a memorandum in the Office Book of Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, which he gives (see Var. of 1821, vol. iii. p. 229) as follows:

"For the king's players. An olde playe called Winter's Tale, formerly allowed of by Sir George Bucke, and likewyse by mee on Mr. Hemmings his worde that there was nothing profane added or reformed, thogh the allowed booke was missinge, and therefore I returned it without a fee, this 19 of August, 1623."

Malone also discovered that Sir George Buck did not ob

tain full possession of his office as Master of the Revels until August, 1610;* and he therefore conjectured that The Winter's Tale" was originally licensed in the latter part of that year or the beginning of the next." This date is confirmed by the MS. Diary of Dr. Simon Forman, since discovered (see our ed. of Richard II. p. 13, and cf. M. N. D. p. 10), which contains the following reference to the acting of "the Winters Talle at the glob, 1611, the 15 of maye:"†

"Obserue ther howe Lyontes the kinge of Cicillia was overcom with Ielosy of his wife, with the kinge of Bohemia, his frind, that came to see him, and howe he contriued his death, and wold haue had his cup-berer to haue poisoned, [sic] who gaue the king of bohemia warning ther-of, & fled with him to bohemia / Remember also howe he sent to the Orakell of appollo, & the Aunswer of apollo that she was giltles, and that the king was Ielouse, &c, and howe Except the child was found Again that was loste, the kinge should die with-out yssue, for the child was caried into bohemia, & ther laid in a forrest, & brought vp by a sheppard. And the kinge of bohemia his sonn maried that wentch, & howe they fled in Cicillia to Leontes, and the sheppard hauing showed the letter of the nobleman by whom Leontes sent a [sic] was that child, and the Iewelles found about her. she was knowen to be leontes daughter, and was then 16 yers old.

Remember also the Rog. that cam in all tottered like coll pixci/ and howe he feyned him sicke & to haue bin Robbed of all that he had, and how he cosoned the por man of all his money, and after cam to the shop sher‡ with a pedlers packe, & ther cosoned them Again of all ther money. And howe he changed apparrell with the kinge of

*The Stationers' Registers show, however, that he had practically the control of the office from the year 1607.

† We give the passage as printed in the Transactions of the New Shakspere Society, 1875-76, p. 416.

That is, sheep-shearing.

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