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Page 5
--Samuel Holt Monk
University of Minnesota
[Illustration: Picture of Shakespeare surrounded by angels]
THE
WORKS
OF
Mr. _William Shakespear_;
IN
SIX VOLUMES.
ADORN'D with CUTS.
Revis'd and Corrected, with an Account of the Life and Writings of the
Author.
By _N. ROWE_, Esq;
_L O N D O N_:
Printed for _Jacob Tonson_, within _Grays-Inn_ Gate, next _Grays-Inn_
Lane. MDCCIX.
[Illustration: Decorative motif]
SOME
ACCOUNT
OF THE
LIFE, _&c._
OF
Mr. _William Shakespear_.
It seems to be a kind of Respect due to the Memory of Excellent Men,
especially of those whom their Wit and Learning have made Famous, to
deliver some Account of themselves, as well as their Works, to
Posterity. For this Reason, how fond do we see some People of
discovering any little Personal Story of the great Men of Antiquity,
their Families, the common Accidents of their Lives, and even their
Shape, Make and Features have been the Subject of critical Enquiries.
How trifling soever this Curiosity may seem to be, it is certainly very
Natural; and we are hardly satisfy'd with an Account of any remarkable
Person, 'till we have heard him describ'd even to the very Cloaths he
wears. As for what relates to Men of Letters, the knowledge of an Author
may sometimes conduce to the better understanding his Book: And tho' the
Works of Mr. _Shakespear_ may seem to many not to want a Comment, yet I
fancy some little Account of the Man himself may not be thought improper
to go along with them.
He was the Son of Mr. _John Shakespear_, and was Born at _Stratford_
upon _Avon_, in _Warwickshire_, in _April_ 1564. His Family, as appears
by the Register and Publick Writings relating to that Town, were of good
Figure and Fashion there, and are mention'd as Gentlemen. His Father,
who was a considerable Dealer in Wool, had so large a Family, ten
Children in all, that tho' he was his eldest Son, he could give him no
better Education than his own Employment. He had bred him, 'tis true,
for some time at a Free-School, where 'tis probable he acquir'd that
little _Latin_ he was Master of: But the narrowness of his
Circumstances, and the want of his assistance at Home, forc'd his
Father to withdraw him from thence, and unhappily prevented his further
Proficiency in that Language. It is without Controversie, that he had no
knowledge of the Writings of the Antient Poets, not only from this
Reason, but from his Works themselves, where we find no traces of any
thing that looks like an Imitation of 'em; the Delicacy of his Taste,
and the natural Bent of his own Great _Genius_, equal, if not superior
to some of the best of theirs, would certainly have led him to Read and
Study 'em with so much Pleasure, that some of their fine Images would
naturally have insinuated themselves into, and been mix'd with his own
Writings; so that his not copying at least something from them, may be
an Argument of his never having read 'em. Whether his Ignorance of the
Antients were a disadvantage to him or no, may admit of a Dispute: For
tho' the knowledge of 'em might have made him more Correct, yet it is
not improbable but that the Regularity and Deference for them, which
would have attended that Correctness, might have restrain'd some of that
Fire, Impetuosity, and even beautiful Extravagance which we admire in
_Shakespear_: And I believe we are better pleas'd with those Thoughts,
altogether New and Uncommon, which his own Imagination supply'd him so
abundantly with, than if he had given us the most beautiful Passages out
of the _Greek_ and _Latin_ Poets, and that in the most agreeable manner
that it was possible for a Master of the _English_ Language to deliver
'em. Some _Latin_ without question he did know, and one may see up and
down in his Plays how far his Reading that way went: In _Love's Labour
lost_, the Pedant comes out with a Verse of _Mantuan_; and in _Titus
Andronicus_, one of the _Gothick_ Princes, upon reading
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