The Plays and Poems of William Shakspeare, Vol. 21 (Classic Reprint)

Btory on which this play is formed, is of great antiquity. It is foond in a book, once very popular, entitled Gesta Romanorum, which is supposed by Mr. Tyrwhitt, the learned editor ofT he Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, 1775, to have been written five hundred yean ago. The earliest impression of that work (which I have leen) was printed in 1488 ;in that edition the history of A ppokmios King ofT yre makes the 153d chapter. It is likewise related hjG ower in his Confessio A mantis, lib. viii. p. 175 185, edit. 1554. The Rev. Dr. mer has in his possession a fragment of a MS. poem on the sae subject, which appears, from the handwriting and the metre, to be more ancient than Gower. The reader will find an extract from it at the end of the play. There is aho an ancient romance on this subject, called Kjrng A ppol}) ofT byre, tnuuilated from the French by Robert Copland, and printed by Wynkyn deW orde in 1510. In 1576 William Howe had aliceace for printing The most excellent, pleasant, and variable Hislorie of the strange Adventures of Prince A ppolonius, Lucine his Wyfe, and Tharsa his Daughter. The author of Pericles having introduced Gower in his piece, it is reasonable to suppose that he chiefly followed the wore of that poet. It is observable that the hero of this tale is, in Gowers poem, as in the present play, called Pn aee ofT yre ;in the Gesta Romanoruro, and Coplands proseR omance, he is entitled King, Most of the incidents of the play tie found in the Confessio A mantis, and a few of Gowers expressioD sare occasionally borrowed. However, I think it is not valikely, that there niay have been (though I have not met with it) sn early prose translation of this popular story, from the Gesta Romanorum, in which the name of A ppolonius was changed toP ericles; to which, likewise, the author of this drama may have been indebted. In 1607 was published at London, by
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)