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Tan-y-Bryn, Shoot-Up Hill, N.W.—Discusses McKerrow’s forthcoming edition of The Gull’s Horn-book.

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Tan-Y-Bryn: Shoot-Up-Hill. N.W.
7/1/03

I find your packet awaiting me on coming to town from the Country. I have been resting for a few days, as I have not been very well of late. I think Mr Moring will go to press with this vol-ume in two or three weeks time. The question of Introduction might, I think, be left for the pre-sent, but why not get on to the Glossary at once; the page references could be put in afterwards. Is there not a 2nd Edition of “the Horn Book” with additional matter in the Chapter relating to the Theatre? {1}—With all good wishes,
I. G.

[Directed to:] R. B. McKerrow. Esq. | 22. Friars Stile Road | Richmond | Surrey.

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Postmarked at Kilburn Sorting Office, N.W., at 3.30 p.m. on 7 January 1903.

{1} The reference is to The Gull’s Hornbook by Thomas Dekker, McKerrow’s edition of which was published by the De La More Press in March 1904 (according to the colophon; the English Catalogue of Books gives the month of publication as April) and reprinted by the same publisher in a slightly different format the following year. Only one early edition of the Hornbook is known, published in 1609 (STC (2nd ed.) 6500), but the book was re-issued in 1674 by Sam. Vincent—‘apparently’, as McKerrow notes, ‘as an original work’—under the title The Young Gallant’s Academy. Vincent made certain alterations intended to bring the work up to date, and in particular rewrote much of the chapter on the theatre. This revised version of the chapter is printed as an appendix in McKerrow’s edition.

(Sheffield.)—Comments on passages in the Works of Nashe. Is thinking of publishing extracts from Gabriel Harvey’s marginalia.

(With an envelope, postmarked at Sheffield.)

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13 Nov. 1908

Dear McKerrow,

I have been turning over the pages of your Vol IV—It is indeed a marvellous storehouse of out of the way information. Are you going to provide an Index? I suppose so.

At this stage comments are of no use to you—but I will give you one or two. {1}

I 183. 17. In the expression ‘S. Nicholas Clerks’ is it clear that there is any reference to the devil? Chambers Book of Days II p 661 bot. explains the phrase in relation to a legend of St Nicholas.—On the other hand our ‘Old Nick’ is often said to be a name transferred to the Devil from Macchiavelli.

(Your page of Vol IV) 141. mid. {2} ‘at the university town of which’ should be ‘at the university of which town’ I suppose.

I p. 274. 21. I dont understand what you mean by saying the real point of the saying against ropemakers has not been explained.—Do you mean their ‘walking backwards’? In a little book I have on Trades &c. (titlepage lost) the ropemaker, it is said, fixes the hemp to his wheel—‘He then runs backwards giving out hemp as he goes!’ {3}

I 285. 21. {4} Better to have said ‘a pedant’ or ‘a scholastic philosopher’ as Pedantius himself is also a pedant, indeed, as a Schoolmaster, a pedant par excellence.

II 184 11. {5} In his MS. notes on Gascoigne’s ‘Notes of instruction on rime. &c’ in the Bodleian copy Harvey dissents from Gascoigne’s approval of monosyllables ‘the more monosyllables you shall use the truer Englishman you shall seem’—‘Non placet. A great Grace and Majesty in longer Wordes, so they be current Inglish. Monosyllables ar good to make up a hobling and hudling verse.’ {6}

III. 16. 10. If you mean St John’s College, Camb.—the Visitor at present is The Bishop of Ely. & he was so from the foundation of the College [without any break I imagine] {7}

III 41. 35 arsedine. {8} Edward Carpenter {9} was telling me the other day that Sheffield grinders say (or did till lately) ‘as thin as an assidine’ tho’ none of them know what an assidine is

III 43 14. There is a well known inn between Whittlesey & Thorney called ‘The dog in a doublet’ with a sign. An uncle of mine had a seizure on the ice & died there.

III 46. 6. The DNB. says that Harvey practised in the Court of Arches I think. I had thought there was some authority—but I dont remember it.

III 116 33. Our Johnian antiquary Thos. Baker has transcribed a lot of notes of Harvey made in a copy of his own Ciceronianus & other books—Among them a letter from Tho. Hatcher remonstrating with him for not having mentioned Haddon in his Ciceronianus—also Harvey’s reply. both in Latin Hatcher’s letter is 23 Nov 1577 and refers to Harvey’s having recently visited him at Careby near Stamford.

III 126 31. {10} Cp. Pedantius l. 194. At occuritur Aristotelem non vidisse verum in spirituali-bus.

I have been looking through my extracts from Harvey’s marginalia—& I believe they would make a very interesting book for a limited audience. {11} One might start with a sketch of Harvey’s life & character, & attainments, as illustrated by the marginalia—& then print a selection of marginalia from each annotated book of his that I have been able to see. It occurred to me today that it would be very nice if Sidgwick & his partner {12} would do it. But I should not wish to involve Sidgwick in any loss over it.

Thank you for your letter about the English Association. {13} Boas is Secretary. It is like the Mod. Language Association, but for English only.

I hope when you have finished with Nashe, you will start an edition of Dekker’s plays.

Ever yours
G. C. Moore Smith

I shall look forward eagerly to your Vol V.

[Added on the back of the envelope:] Ellis has just sent me the Harvey book to copy the notes. Not of much importance.

[Direction on envelope:] R. B. McKerrow Esq. | 4 Phoenix Lodge Mansions | Brook Green | Hammersmith | London W

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The envelope was postmarked at Sheffield at 11 a.m. on 14 November 1908, and at Paddington, W, at 5.15 p.m. the same day. Besides the note by Moore Smith mentioned above, the envelope is marked ‘Work | From Prof G. C. Moore-Smith’, and elsewhere ‘See to this’.

{1} The succeeding notes relate to Nashe’s works Pierce Penilesse, Strange Newes, Christ’s Teares over Jerusalem, and Have With You to Saffron-Walden. Several of the suggestions were incorporated in the Errata and Addenda appended to the fifth volume of McKerrow’s edition; see below.

{2} Cf. Works of Nashe, v. 375 (note on i. 227, 3–239, 2).

{3} Closing inverted comma supplied.

{4} Cf. Works of Nashe, v. 376.

{5} Cf. Works of Nashe (1958), v. Supp., p. 32.

{6} Single inverted comma supplied in place of double inverted commas.

{7} The square brackets are original.

{8} See OED, s.v. ‘orsedue’.

{9} Edward Carpenter lived at Millthorpe, between Sheffield and Chesterfield. See ODNB.

{10} Cf. Works of Nashe, v. 379.

{11} Moore Smith’s selection of Gabriel Harvey’s Marginalia was published in 1913.

{12} R. C. Jackson. The firm of Sidgwick & Jackson had only just been established, on the 2nd of the month.

{13} The English Association was founded in 1906 by a small group of English teachers and scholars including F. S. Boas, A. C. Bradley, and Israel Gollancz.

Lincoln College, Oxford.—There is a second edition of A Wonderfull, Strange, and Miraculous … Prognostication (1598), attributed by some to Nashe, in the Bodleian.

(With an envelope.)

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Lincoln College | Oxford
Nov. 20

Dear Sir,

I have recently chanced upon a copy of a second edition of “A Wonderfull, strange and miraculous . . . . Prognostication” (1591), {1} attributed by some to Thomas Nashe. I thought you might be interested to hear of this, as you do not appear to mention it in your edition of Nashe.

The copy of the second edition is in the Bodleian (the press-mark is G. Pamph. 2156). It is not catalogued under ‘Nashe’ or ‘Fouleweather’ or ‘Wonderfull’, but under ‘Astrologia’. On the title-page are the words ‘Newly corrected’. This copy is imperfect, wanting all after Sig. D1v. As far as I can see it contains no new matter up to this signature, but the text is divided into many paragraphs, and in places offers better readings than those of the first edition. In particular, you may be interested to hear, the 2nd edition substantiates several of the emendations you have introduced into the text.

If you are not already acquainted with this edition, I shall be happy to furnish you with any particulars you may desire. I should like to take this opportunity of thanking you for the help which your edition of Nashe and your article in Bib. Soc. Trans. XII {2} have been to me in some work I am doing on Dekker for the Clarendon Press. {3}

Yours sincerely,
F. P. Wilson

R. B. McKerrow, Esq.

[Direction on envelope:] R. B. McKerrow, Esq., Litt. D., | 4, Phoenix Mansions, | Brook Green, | London, W.

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The envelope, which was postmarked at Oxford at 8 p.m. on 20 November 1914, has been marked by McKerrow ‘Nashe note’, and the postage-stamp has been torn off. This letter was formerly inserted after p. 198 of McKerrow’s annotated copy of his Works of Nashe, vol. v (Adv. c. 25. 76), though the letter relates in fact to vol. iii, p. 377, where, in his own copy, McKerrow has added the following note at the foot of the page: ‘A later ed. is in Bodleian, G. Pamph. 2156 or 215b, catalogued under ‘Astrologia’, called ‘Newly corrected.’ Impf. wanting all after D1v. (Letter fm F. P. Wilson, Lincoln Coll., Oxford. 20/11/14)’.

{1} STC (2nd ed.) 11210. The book is attributed on the title-page to ‘Adam Fouleweather, Student in Asse-tronomy’, an obvious pseudonym.

{2} ‘Notes on Bibliographical Evidence for Literary Students and Editors of English Works of the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries’, Transactions of the Bibliographical Society, vol. xii (1914), pp. 213–318.

{3} The Plague Pamphlets of Thomas Dekker, not published till 1925. Wilson made a similar acknowledgement in his Preface.

Royal Pier Hotel, Southsea.—Would like to discuss the Marprelate tracts with him.

(Undated. A reference to the ‘3 Vols’ of the Works of Nashe suggests that the letter was written between the appearance of the third and fourth volumes of that work, i.e. between 1905 and 1908.)

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Royal Pier Hotel, Southsea
Sunday.

My dear Sir,

I am in receipt of your favor† of the 13th last, and shall be glad to meet you—if you will permit me to do so. Will you dine with us on the evening of Friday Week, when we shall certainly be at home. Please reply to Hampstead, {1} as we leave here tomorrow.

I do hope I did not mislead Mr. Greg by speaking too hastily regarding your work. I certainly did not intend to suggest that I had found any “Errors” in your informed & thorough notes. What I do mean to say is just this. I have always taken much interest in the Plays & Pamphlets of Nash, Green, & Dekker, & have never missed an opportunity of acquiring any of them. Of Nash I have quite a goodly lot, including the “Terrors of the Night”. {2}

Consequently when your 3 Vols. came to hand I compared most carefully what you had to say with the Bibliographical Notes I had made for my own Catalogue. I found that the conclusions at which I had arrived did not at all times agree with the deductions you had drawn,—& upon again examining the tracts themselves by the light of your words, I still found myself unable to fall in with your views. This, I may say, is in regard to the Mar-Prelate Pamphlets.

If you will come & chat the matters over with me for an hour after dinner, I think I shall be able to induce you to agree with me. If not, at all events we ought to get at the certain facts.

Very truly Yrs
Thos. J. Wise

I wish you could be induced to do for Green & Dekker what you are doing for Nash! The work is calling to be done!

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Two letters from McKerrow to Wise of 1909 and 1910, evidently subsequent to this one, were among Sir Maurice Pariser’s collection of ‘Wiseiana’, sold at Sotheby’s on 5 December 1967 (see the sale catalogue, p. 116).

{1} Wise and his second wife were in fact at this time living at 23 Downside Crescent, Belsize Park, but Wise characteristically preferred to associate himself with the more fashionable Hampstead, as he did on announcing his purchase of the house to J. H. Wrenn on 2 March 1900. See Letters of Thomas J. Wise to John Henry Wrenn: a Further Inquiry into the Guilt of Certain Nineteenth-Century Forgers, ed. Fannie E. Ratchford (1944), p. 180.

{2} Wise’s copy is now in the British Library (Ashley 1258).

† Sic.