524 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



[No. 187. 



numerous instances, both ancient and modern, of 

 a similar attribution of works to other than their 

 actual authors. Astbkus. 



Dublin. 



The Island of Prospero. — We cannot assert 

 that Shakspeare, in the Tempest, had any parti- 

 cular island in view as the scene of his immortal 

 drama, though by some this has been stoutly 

 maintained. Chalmers prefers one of the Ber- 

 mudas. The Rev. J. Hunter, in his Disquisition 

 on the Scene, Sf-c. of the Tempest, endeavours to 

 confer the honour on the Island of Lampedosa. 

 In reference to this question, a statement of the 

 pseudo- Aristotle is remarkable. In his work 

 "TTfpl Oavfiafflaiv aKovafiaTccv," he mentions Lipara, 

 one of the ^olian Islands, lying to the north of 

 Sicily, and nearly in the course of Shakspeare's 

 Neapolitan fleet from Tunis to Naples. Among 

 the TTowh. TtparciSr] found there, he tells us : 



" 'E|aKoue(r0ai yap Tv/xirdvuv Kcd Kvfj.^iK(iiv rixov ye- 

 Xurd re ixtrb. Oopv^ov Kol KporaKoov ivapyds. Aeyovffi Se 

 ri TeparuSeiTTepop yeyovevM irepl rh criT'fiXaiov. " 



If we compare this with the aerial music heard 

 by Ferdinand (Tempest, I. 2.), especially as the 

 orchestra is represented by the genial burin of 

 M. Retsch In the fifth plate of his well-known 

 sketches (TJmrisze), it will appear probable that 

 Shakspeare was acquainted with the Greek writer 

 either in the original or through a translation. 

 As far as I am aware, this has not been observed 

 by any of the commentators. — From The Na- 

 vorscher. J. M. 



Coincident Criticisms. — I shall be obliged if 

 you will allow me through your pages to an- 

 ticipate and rebut two ciiarges of plagiarism. 

 When I wrote my Note on a passage in The 

 Winters Tale (" N. & Q.," Vol. vii , p. 378.), I 

 had not seen the Dublin Univei^sity Magazine 

 for March last, containing some remarks on the 

 same passage in some respects much resembling 

 mine. I must also declare that my Note on a 

 passage in AWs Well that ends Well (" N. & Q.," 

 vol. vii., p. 426.) was posted for you some time 

 before the appearance of A. E. B.'s Note on 

 the same passage (" N. & Q.," Vol. vii., p. 403.). 

 The latter coincidence is more remarkable than 

 the former, as the integrity of the amended text 

 was in both notes discussed by means of the same 

 parallel passage. Apropos of A. E. B.'s clever 

 Note, permit me to say, that though at first it ap- 

 peared to me conclusive, I now incline to think 

 that Shakspeare intended Helen to address the 

 leaden messengers by means of a very hyperbolic 

 figure : " wound the still-piecing air that sings 

 with piercing" is a consistent whole. If, as 

 A. E. B. rightly says, to wound the air is an im- 

 possibility, it is equally impossible that the air 



should utter any sound expressive of sensibility. 

 The fact of course is, that the cannon-balls cleave 

 the air, and that by so cleaving it a shrill noise is 

 produced. The cause and effect may, however, 

 be metaphorically described, by comparing the air 

 to Bertram. I believe it is a known fact that 

 every man who is struck with a cannon-ball cries 

 out instinctively. Shakspeare therefore might, I 

 think, have very poetically described tiie action 

 and effect of a cannon-ball passing tln-ough the 

 air by the strong figure of wounding the air that 

 sings with the piercing which it is enduring. 



]n concluding this Note, I beg to express what 

 is not merely my own, but a very general feeling 

 of disappointment in respect of Mr. Collier's 

 new edition of Shakspeare. To it, with a new 

 force, may be applied the words of A. E. B. in 

 " N. & Q.," Vol. vi., p. 296. : 



" But the evil of these emendations is not in this 

 Instance confined to the mere suggestion of doubt ; the 

 text has absolutely been altered in all accessible 

 editions, in many cases silently, so that the ordinary 

 reader has no opportunity of judging between Shak- 

 speare and his improvers." 



That Mr. Collier should be the greatest of such 

 offenders, is no very cheering sign of the times. 



C. Mansfield Ingleby. 

 Birmingham. 



Dogberry's Losses (Vol. vii., p. 377.). — I do not 

 know whether it has ever been suggested, but I feel 

 inclined to read " lawsuits." He has just Vxtasted 

 of himself as "one that knows the law ;^' and it 

 seems natural enough that he should go on to brag 

 of being a rich fellow enough, " and a fellow that 

 hath had lawsuits" of his own, and actually figured 

 as plaintiff or defendant. Suppose the words taken 

 down from the mouth of an actor, and the mistake 

 would be easy. John Doe. 



THE CCENACULUM OF LIONAEUO DA VINCI. 



I have in my possession a manuscript critique 

 on the celebrated picture of The Last Supper by 

 Lionardo da Vinci, written many years ago by a 

 deceased academician ; in which the writer has 

 called in question the^om^ of time usually supposed 

 to have been selected by the celebrated Italian 

 painter. The criticisms are chiefly founded on the 

 copy by Marco Oggioni, now in the possession of 

 the Royal Academy of Arts. 



Uniform tradition has assumed that tlie moment 

 of action is that in which the Saviour announces 

 the treachery of one of his disciples : " Dico vobis 

 quia unus vestrum me traditurus est," Matth. xxvi. 

 21., Joan. xiii. 21., Vulgate edit. ; and most of the 

 admirers of this great work have not failed to find 

 in it decisive proofs of the intention of the painter 

 to represent that exact point of time. 



