2"* S. VII. Feb. 12. '69.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



123 



great an extent of acquaintance with the subject, 

 as would be required in the editor of the Latin 

 original. It is scarcely creditable to our litera- 

 ture, that as yet we have neither a translation, 

 nor a good edition of the Latin. Artekus. 



Dublin. 



SHAKSPEARIANA. 



Shdkspeares Will (2°'» S. vi. 494.) — Having 

 formerly asked your influential correspondents to 

 press for a photograph (however imperfect) of 

 Shakspeare's will, I am glad to find that Mr. W. 

 J. Smith introduces the subject again, and forci- 

 bly supports the proposal. Pray Mr. Editor use 

 your personal influence with your many corre- 

 spondents to get this photograph at once. Surely 

 the present Administration needs no pressing on 

 such a literary matter as this. As to the cost, it 

 would be amply repaid, and a large surplus re- 

 alised. Scores of your readers, like myself, would 

 be glad to give a guinea for a copy of the will as 

 it is, however damaged by time and careless hands. 

 The letter-press copy, with the facsimile signa- 

 tures, published by Mr. Halliwell, is valuable, 

 but a photograph would be invaluable. If any 

 difficulty occurred, I could name one or two Shak- 

 spearian photographers to whom the work would 

 be a labour of love. Este. 



Who was J. M. S. of Shakspeares Second 

 Folio ? — The well-known beautiful lines signed 

 J. M. S. prefixed to the second folio of Shak- 

 speare (1632) have given rise to much specula- 

 tion as to their authorship. Some (Mr. Hunter 

 and Mr. Singer) have thought from internal 

 evidence that they are by Richard JaMeS ; but 

 there seems no reason why be should have put 

 J. M. S. for James. Mr. Collier thinks they 

 are the production of Milton, who signed John 

 ilf ilton, iS'tndent. But this also seems far-fetched. 

 Others have attributed them (with very little 

 cause) to Jasper Mayne. But why should he 

 write J. M. aS. ? I am not aware whether my con- 

 jecture has been forestalled, but at all events I 

 will hazard it, with your permission. The fine 

 portrait prefixed to Chapman's Iliad, so admi- 

 rably reproduced in Mr. Russell Smith's pretty 

 edition, has the following lines affixed to it : — 



" Seven kingdoms strove which theyres should Homer 

 call, 

 And now one Chapman ownes him from them all. 

 " Scotise Nobilis. 

 " Eruditorum Poetarum hujus ^vi facilfe Principi, Dno 

 Georgio Chapman, Homero (vellt nolit Invidia) Redivivo, 

 J. M. Tessellam hanc xapio'iTipiov, D. D. 



" Ille simul Musas et Homerum scripserit ipsum 

 Qui scribit nomen (Magne Poeta) tuura." 



Now who was this J. M. who presented Chap- 

 man with this plate ? Was he the Scotite Nobilis 



who wrote the above lines ? If so, J. M. S. would 

 be J. M. (Scotus. I hazard this query and sug- 

 gestion, as I have but few books near me, and 

 have no means of referring to authorities. Per- 

 haps some of your correspondents could clear the 

 mystery, and the J. M. of Chapman may be iden- 

 tified as the J. M. S. of the second folio of Shak- 

 speare. I am aware that some have thought 

 Chapman himself the author of the lines (viz. in 

 Sbakspeare), but they are not in his style. The 

 date of the portrait prefixed to the Iliad is 1616. 



Ceylonensis. 



Portraits and Busts of Shdkspeare (2°* S. vi. 91 . 

 227. 255.) — In your 1^' S. iv. 307. is a notice by 

 Mr. Halliwell of a cast recently completed by 

 Mr. Tite, Stratford-on-Avon, of the bus4of Sbak- 

 speare. I have a copy of this. It can scarcely be 

 called a "bust;" it is a " head." I have, however, 

 another one, a full- sized bust, with the cushion 

 and hands. It cannot be the same as the one to 

 be had in Birmingham for a few shillings (see "N. 

 & Q." 255.) ; this must be a reduced copy. I am 

 satisfied mine is from a cast the mould of which 

 was taken direct from the original at Stratford- 

 on-Avon. The head agrees perfectly with Mr. 

 Tite's so taken. 



I have now lying before me a considerable col- 

 lection of Shakspeare portraits of all sorts, and 

 engravings from the bust, taken from the sides, 

 full front, &c. &c. The best engraving I consider 

 to be the one issued under the superintendence of 

 Mr. Britton. The following extract from his pro- 

 spectus has, I think, been strictly adhered to : — 



" Copy the Bust, I pray you, as it is : nothing exte- 

 nuate, nor set down aught from fancy. In doing this the 

 Artist will have an ample reward m the approbation of 

 the discriminating connoisseur and critic." " To gratify 

 the lovers of Shakspeare I am induced to have this Por- 

 trait engraved, and am determined to have only good 

 and perfect impressions of the Plate sold, each of which 

 will be numbered and signed by 



" J. Bkitton, 



10. Tavistock Place, 

 London. 



"January 31, 1816." 



My copy is a fine proof, on India paper ; but 

 Mr. Britton has omitted to number and sign it. 

 I think Mr. Lowne will find the frontispiece to 

 Mr. Singer's last edition of Shakspeare to be from 

 one of the photographs. I do not consider it 

 agrees so closely with the bust as Mr. Britton's, 

 but decidedly better than those in Boaden and 

 Wivell. 



When the Shakspeare Society published their 

 engraving from the " Chandos portrait," Mr. J. 

 Patne Collier was to give the members a volume 

 showing the authenticity of the Chandos picture. 

 I trust Mr. Collier still intends carrying his inten- 

 tions into efiect, although the Society is defunct. 



S. Wmson. 



Glasgow. 



