The Plays and Poems of William Corrections and Illustrations Various Commentators of Various Commentators: An Enlarged History of the Stage, Vol. 10 (Classic Reprint)

Shakspeare seems to have been more indebted toT heT rue Chronicle History of King Leir and hisT hree Daughters, Gonorill, Ragan, and Cordelia, 1605, (which I have already published at the end of a collection of the quarto copies) than to all the other performances together. It appears from the books atS tationers Hall, that some play on this ftUDJ ect was entered byE dward White, May 14, 1.594. A booke entituled. The moste famous Chronicle Hystorie of Leire King of England, and hisT hree Daughters. A piece with the same title is entered again. May 8, 1005 ;and again Nov. 26, 1607. See the extracts from these Entries at the end of the Prefaces, c. vol. iii. From The Mirror of Magistrates, 1587, Shakspeare has, however, taken the hint for the behaviour of theS teward, and the reply of Cordelia to her father concerning her future marriage. The episode of Gloster and his sons must have been borrowed from Sidney sA rcadia, as I have not found the least trace of it in any other work. I have referred to these pieces, wherever our author seems more immediately to liave followed them, in the course of my notes on the play. For the first King Lear, see likewise Six old Plays on whichS hakspeare founded, c. published for S. Leacroft, Charing-C ross. The reader will also find the story of K. Lear, in the second book and 10th canto of Spenser sF airy Queen, and in the 15th chapter of the third book of Warner sA lbion sE ngland, 1602. The whole of this play, however, could not have been written till after 1603. Harsnet spamphlet to which it contains so many references, (as will appear in the notes,) was not published till that year. Steevens. Camden, in his Remains, (p. 306, ed. 1674,) tells a similar story to this of Leir or Lear, of I na king of theW estS axons; which, if the thing ever happened, probably was the real origin of the fable. See under the head of Wise Spee
(Typographical errors above are due to OCR software and don't occur in the book.)