June 14. 1851.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



479 



resting account of the author. See also Allgemeine En- 

 cychpddie von Ersch iind Gruber, s. v.] 



a\e})lif^. 



GKEENE's " GROATSWORTU OF WITTE." 

 (Vol. ill., p. 140.) 



In answer to Mr. IIalliwell's Query, "whether 

 the remarkable passage respecting Shakspeare in 

 this work has descended to us in its genuine state," 

 I beg to inform him that I possess a copy of the 

 edition of 1596, as well as of those of 1617 and 

 1621, from the latter of which the reprint by Sir 

 Egerton Brydges was taken, and that the passage 

 in question is exactly the same in all the three 

 editions. For the general information of your 

 readers interested in Greene's works, I beg to 

 state, that the variations in the edition of 1596 

 from the other two, consist of the words "written 

 before his death, and published at his dying re- 

 quest," on the title ; and instead of the introduc- 

 tory address " To Wittie Poets, or Poeticall 

 Wittes," signed I. H., there are a few lines on 

 A 2, " The" Printer to the Gentle Pveaders : " 



" I haue published hecre, Gentlemen, for your mirth 

 and benefit, Greene's Groateswoorth of Wit. With 

 sundry of his pleasant discourses ye haue bcene before 

 delighted : But now hatli deatli giuen a period to his 

 pen, onely tliis happened into my hands which I haue 

 published for your pleasures ; Accept it fauourably 

 because it was his last birth, and not least worth, in my 

 poore opinion. But I will cease to praise that which 

 is aboue my conceit, and leaue it sclfe to speake for it 

 selfe : and so abide your learned censuring. 



"Yours, W. W." 



Then follows another short address, " To the 

 Gentlemen Readers," by Greene himself; and as 

 this edition is so rare, only two copies being known, 

 and the address is short, I transcribe it entire for 

 your insertion : 



" Gentlemen, The Swan sings melodiously before 

 death, that hi all his life time vseth but a iarring sound. 

 Greene, tliough able iiiough to write, yet deeplyer 

 searched with sicknesse than euer heretofore, sendes 

 you his swanne-like song, for that he feares he shall 

 neuer againe carroil to you woonted loue layes, neuer 

 againe discouer to you youtli's pleasures. Howeuer 

 yet sicknesse, riot, incontinence, haue at once shown 

 their cxtremitie, yet if I recoucr, you shall ail see 

 more fresh sprnigs then euer sprang from me, directing 

 you liow to Hue, yet not diswading yon from loue. 

 This is the last I haue writ, and I feare me the last I 

 shall write. And how euer I l)aue beene censured for 

 some of my former bookes, yet. Gentlemen, I prutest, 

 they were as I had special information. But passing 

 them, I commend tlds to your fauourablc censures, and 

 like an liinbrion without shape, 1 feare me will bee 

 thrust into the world. If I Hue to ende it, it shall be 

 otherwise : if not, yet will I commend it to your 

 courtesies, that you may as wel be acquainted with my 

 repentant death, as you haue lamented my carelesse 



course of life. But as Nemo ante obitum feJix, so Acta 

 exitus probat : Beseeching therefore to bee deemed 

 hereof as I deserue, I leaue the worke to your liking, 

 and leaue you to your delights." 

 Greene died in September, 1592 ; and this is 

 curious, as being probably the last thing that ever 

 came from his pen. 



Tlie work commences on sig. A 4, the other 

 three leaves being occupied with the title and the 

 two addresses. It concludes with Greene's " letter 

 written to his wife," and has not " Greene's Epi- 

 taph : Discoursed Dialogue-wise betweene Life and 

 Death," which is in the two later editions. 



I may here mention that I possess a copy of an 

 extremely rare work relating to Robert Greene, 

 which has only lately become known, viz. : 



" Greene's Newes both from Heaven and Hell. 

 Prohibited the first for writing of Bookes, and banished 

 out of the last for displaying of Connycatchers. Com- 

 mended to the Presse by B. R." (Barnabee Rich) 4to. 

 bl. lett. Lond. 1593. 



Concerning the great rarity of this interesting 

 tract, which was unknown to the Rev. A. Dyce 

 when publishing his edition of Greene's works, 

 your readers may see a notice by Mr. Collier in 

 his Extracts from the Registry of the Stat. Comj)., 

 vol. ii. p. 233., apparently from the present copy, 

 no other being known. Thos. Corser. 



Stand Rectory. 



THE DUTCH MARTTROLOGT. 



(Vol. iii., p. 443.) 



Besides the copy of the above work mentioned 

 by your correspondent J. H. T., several others 

 are known to exist in this country. Among 

 them I may mention one in the library of the 

 Baptist College, Bristol. My own copy was sup- 

 plied by a London bookseller, who has likewise 

 imported several other copies from Holland, where 

 it is by no means a scarce work. 



The second illustrated edition was published 

 twenty years after the decease of Van Braght. 

 The first edition, without engravings, now before 

 me, appeared in 1660, which was the edition used 

 by Danvers. But Danvers does not appear to 

 have known its existence, when the first edition of 

 his treatise came out in 1673. The "large addi- 

 tions" of his second edition in 1674, are chiefly 

 made from the work of Van Braght. 



The original portion of Van Braght's work is, 

 however, confined to the first part. The second 

 part. The j\farti/?-ologj/, strictly so called, is of 

 much earlier date. Many single narratives ap- 

 peared at the time, and collections of these were 

 early made. The earliest collection of martyr- 

 doms bears tlie date of 1542. This was enlarged 

 in 1562, 1578, 1580, and 1595. This fact I give 

 on the authority of Professor IMiiller of Amster- 

 dam, from the Jaarboehje voor do Doopsgezinde 



