﻿Indiana University Studies 



No. 11 BLOOMINGTON, INDIANA September, 1911 



Prefatory Note 



This study is based upon a paper written by Mr. McDonald for 

 the seminary in Elizabethan non-dramatic literature two yeare ago. 

 His purpose was to give a connected account of the plagiarisms in 

 the pamphlet called Greenes Ghost Haunting Conie-cat cherts, by 

 S. R., ordinarily attributed to Samuel Rowlands, as an illustration 

 of the methods of one kind of Elizabethan hack writer. The 

 pamphlet is made up of bits stolen from ten contemporary works, 

 some of which thefts are deftly concealed. About half of these 

 plagiarisms have been noticed by various scholars; Mr. McDonald's 

 j>urpase is to present as complete a view as possible of the debt of 

 the pamphlet to its various sources, verified in detail and illustrated 

 by quotations. 



Such studies of separate pamphlets are important as thro^^ing 

 some light on the shadowy figures of minor Elizabethans, and as a 

 basis for generalizations about their methods and standards. The 

 pamphlets have great interest and value for the social and literary 

 historian. The best of them portray vividly and accurately the 

 complex and many-sided Elizabethan life, furnishing a necessary 

 background for any real understanding of Elizabethan thought. 

 But they demand wary handling, they represent all stages of re- 

 liability, and there is need for much careful editing before this 

 mass of material as a whole can be safely used. To do a small part 

 of this important work is the aim of ]\Ir. McDonald's essay. 



Frank Aydelotte, 

 Associate Professor of English. 



