Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/513

 10 S. XL MAY 29, 1909.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

421

LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 29, 1909.

CONTENTS. No. 283.

NOTES : Ben Jonson's ' Works,' 421 Shakespeariana, 423 Crusoe Richard Davis Flying Machines of the Far East, 425 Tweedledum and Twebdledee " Seedy," 426 John Walker, Inventor of the Lucifer Match "Pompey " =Portsmouth Alexander Thorn, 427.

QUERIES : The King's Bodyguard-Mr. Woods as Velas- qu-z Society of Artists, 1772' Royal Plaister Academy ' Westminster Latin Play, 427 Irish-Printed Medical Books Robert Dodsley "Governor of the English Nation" Bacon on the Stomach Wilmot Family Pugh of Regent Street^Gaol Literature Sir Jerome Fitz- patrick German Life Dew - Ponds, 428 President Ingram of Trinity College, Oxford Zachary Moore ' The Modern Ship of Fools ' Dr. Johnson's Uncle Hanged Authors Wanted Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury Ethelreda, Viscountess Townshend Aspin- shaw, Printing-Press Maker James C. C. Bell Hough Family Canapolitans, 429" Froudes "=Stuffed Dates, 430.

RKPLIES: Sir Arthur Hesilrige, 430 Mechanical Road Carriages Robert Noyes, 431 Tressac de Vergy The Rhine a French Boundary Passports " Botemen," 432 Semaphore Signalling Sir Lewis Pollard Coventry Patmore and Swedenborg Hair becoming suddenly White-Naseby Field, 433 Bergerode Earl Ferrers "One shoe off," 434 Blind Institutions in England- Bishops of St. Asaph Jonathan Wild Bibliography, 435 <Jockburnspath Old Serjeants' Inn, 436 Casanova in England May-Blossom Carlyle and Freemasonry, 437 Beckford Queries De Quincey Quotations Nancy Day- Authors Wanted" Though lost to sight " Milton and Hackney Goose with One Leg, 438.

NOTES ON BOOKS : ' The Dawn ot the Constitution ' ' The Curious Case of Lady Purbeck ' ' Passing English.-

BEN JONSON'S 'WORKS.' THE possession, of several interesting copies of Jonson's works in folio has led me to investigate the history of their publica- tion, and as inaccurate accounts of the early editions frequently appear, notwithstanding the careful paper by MB. BBINSLEY NICHOL- SON in ' N. & Q.' for 18 June, 1870 (4 S. v. 573), I think it may be useful to restate the facts, with some additions, and such conclusions as occur to me after an exami- nation of various copies of the books.

The first folio appeared in 1616. It had a finely engraved title-page by Hole, followed by four leaves of verses, &c. The collation of the plays themselves is A Qqqq4 in sixes. Sig. Eee3 is wrongly named Ee3, and sig. xl!3 is wrongly named Kkk3. Some copies have engraved and others printed title- pages to ' Every Man out of his Humour,' and there are variations in the arrangement of the text in the last two pages. In some copies the volume is described as " Imprinted at London by Will Stansby," in others as " Printed by W. Stansby, and are to be sould by Rich : Meighen."
 * The Poetaster,' and ' Cynthia's Revels ' ;

In 1631 there were printed three plays

' Bartholomew Fayre,' ' The Staple of Newes,' and ' The Divell is an Asse.' These plays were evidently intended to form part of a second volume of Jonson's works, ' Bar- tholomew Fayre ' and ' The Divell is an Asse ' having a continuous collation (A2 6, B Y in fours ) ; while the collation of ' The Staple of Newes ' is Aa H in fours (changed at cc3 to a single letter), il 6. The only allusions to these plays which I can find in Prof. Arber's edition of the Stationers' Hall Registers relate to ' The Staple of Newes.' On 14 April, 1626, John Waterson entered for his copy " a booke called the Staple of Newes, being a Comedie," and on 7 Sept., 1631, there was assigned to Master Allot, " by a note under the hand of Master John Waterson, a booke called The Stapell of Newes, written by Master Ben : Johnson." All these three plays are described on the title-pages as " Printed by I. B. for Robert Allot and are to be sold at the signe of the Beare, in Pauls Church- yard 1631." It is very doubtful whether the plays were actually published in 1631.

In 1640, after Jonson's death, a new edition of his plays appeared. The first volume has a title-page borrowed from the 1616 edition, with a change of date and printer ("printed by Richard Bishop, and are to be sold by Andrew Crooke") ; and there was prefixed a portrait of Jonson by Robert Vaughan. The collation of the book is A L114, A T in sixes. The second volume of what are generally called com- plete copies is made up of the three plays of 1631 and a number of other works bearing no printer's name, and arranged in varying order in different copies. The collation is : ' The Magnetick Lady,' A H ; ' Tale of a Tub,' I Q2 ; ' The Sad Shepherd,' B v ; ' Christmas His Masque,' &c. (no title), B Q, Hi, 2, s Y2 ; ' Underwoods,' z pp2, Qql ; ' Mortimer His Fall,' Qq2 4 ; ' Horace's Art of Poetry,' A D3 ; ' English Grammar,' D4 L2 ; ' Timber, or Discoveries,' M B ; all in fours. In some copies the place of the 1631 ' Divell is an Asse ' is taken by a poor reprint dated 1641 (Al, 2, B K2, the last leaf, being blank). No doubt the stock of the play printed in 1631 proved insufficient. All the other pieces in the volume are dated 1640, except 'The Sad Shepherd' and ' Timber,' which are dated 1641. There are variations in different copies in ' Mortimer ' and the ' Tale of a Tub.' Prefixed to the whole collection there is sometimes found a general title-page ("TheWorkes of Ben- jamin Jonson. The Second Volume"), to which I shall refer again.