Into the Archive: Three New Old Books

The Shakespeare Apocrypha: Being a Collection of Fourteen Plays Which Have Been Ascribed to Shakespeare (Classic Reprint) - reprint June 16, 2012; original 1904.

by William Shakespeare? (Author); 406 pages

"This volume is designed to satisfy a need which during the past two generations has been variously and often expressed. The ambition of the editor has been to provide an accurate and complete text, with adequate critical and supplementary matter, of all those plays which can, without entire absurdity, be included in the doubtfully Shakespearian class. A similar work to comprise the first thirteen dramas in this book, in addition to The Arraignment of Paris, The Death of Studey, and The Siege of Antwerp appears, indeed, on the list of suggested publications of the New Shakspere Society {Transactions, 1874, p. 4), but it did not get beyond the stage of projection. Since the days of Malone, only three of the works before us Arden of Feversham, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and Sir Thomas More have appeared in English speaking countries in what can at [most] justly be termed independently edited texts. Tolerable versions of four others have been published by Germans in editions now practically unprocurable. As regards the other seven plays, no real attempt at purification of the text or collation of the early editions has been made, if made at all, for more than two centuries, and in the case of Sir John Oldcastle, it has remained for this book to give the very first reprint of what is most unmistakably the only reliable and uncorrupted version. Thus considerable and important passages appear here for the first time since 1600. In the preparation of the body of the text, the main object has been to give a faithful reproduction of the most authoritative edition of each play; that is, of the earliest, except in the rare instances where a later edition is demonstrably truer to the author's manuscript. Supplementary passages are printed, within brackets, from the earliest edition which contains them. Where a variant or an emendation has appeared inevitable, it has been adopted." -Amazon, from the Preface. $17.42

 

The Life of Sir John Falstaff: With a Biography of the Knight from Authentic Sources (Cambridge Library Collection - Shakespeare and Renaissance Drama)

by Robert Barnabas Brough (Author), George Cruikshank (Illustrator); 197 pages

Remembered for both his satirical and serious work, Robert Barnabas Brough (1828–60) was a playwright, journalist, poet and founder member of the Savage Club. Built around a series of inspired etchings by the celebrated artist George Cruikshank (1792–1878), this is a delightful fictional biography, 'from authentic sources', of that most colourful of Shakespeare's characters. We hear how our hero was descended from the great Saxon leader Hundwulf Falstaff, how the name is a corruption of 'False-thief', of his adventures with his beloved Prince Hal, and of Christmas 1412 with the Whittington family. Henry V's terrible rejection of him – 'I know thee not, old man' – is touchingly depicted, as are the episode of the laundry basket and other misadventures at Windsor, along with his sad death at the Boar's Head in 1415. First published in 1858, this book is a must-read for every lover of this larger-than-life figure.  – Amazon; $12.47

 Early Christian Writings: The Apostolic Fathers – September 1, 1987

by Andrew Louth (Editor), Maxwell Staniforth (Translator); 199 pages

The writings in this volume cast a glimmer of light upon the emerging traditions and organization of the infant church, during an otherwise little-known period of its development. A selection of letters and small-scale theological treatises from a group known as the Apostolic Fathers, several of whom were probably disciples of the Apostles, they provide a first-hand account of the early Church and outline a form of early Christianity still drawing on the theology and traditions of its parent religion, Judaism. Included here are the first Epistle of Bishop Clement of Rome, an impassioned plea for harmony; The Epistle of Polycarp; The Epistle of Barnabas; The Didache; and the Seven Epistles written by Ignatius of Antioch—among them his moving appeal to the Romans that they grant him a martyr's death. – Amazon; $10.29

After getting no books last month, I went rather overboard when May rolled around. Well, maybe in number, but not too bad financially. Since these three came directly from Amazon and exceeded $35, the shipping was free. I have three more coming, mostly from different Goodwills, so not too expensive on any of them. I think all six together did not exceed, say, the cost of one of those fancy-shmancy deluxe Tolkien books. Thus do I try to justify my purchases and thus do I break one of my New Year's resolutions..

I’ve been wanting something like that The Shakespeare Apocrypha for ages; I remember seeing a similar volume a long time ago at one of the Half-Prices in San Antonio. Of particular interest to me is The Birth of Merlin. Since it is basically a scanned copy of a book in the Cornel University Library it includes all the artifacts from that volume, including library marks.

Though I only just learned about the existence of The Life of Sir John Falstaff, I have been aware of George Cruikshank’s illustrations since at least high school. I am wary about a book that was considered ‘humorous’ in 1858, although I somehow feel I owe it to Sir John to take a squint at it. Maybe try to adjust my attitude to the times and give it a whirl. Whatever, I’ll always have the Cruikshank pictures.

I must confess that Jimmy Akin whetted my appetite for Early Christian Writings on his show recently, although I have been thinking of getting just such a volume for a while. I find it includes the entire Didache; I could have spared myself buying that slim little text (almost a pamphlet, really) by itself, had I but known. A Penguin book.

They arrived yesterday, Sunday, at about 4 PM. One thing all three books have in common is that they are all in teeny, tiny, eye-strain-o-vision print. A proper read would involve a bright light and my cheater glasses; my floor lamp having recently passed away (so is the fashion of the world) renders a comfortable place to read moot. I can do it at the desk, but the chair there has its limitations.