‘Pericles’, ‘Reynard the Foxe’, Sidney’s ‘Arcadia’, Florio’s ‘Montaigne’ and More in Northwestern MS 67

Abstract

Abstract This paper offers an edition of 214 extracts contained in Northwestern MS 67, a manuscript completed no earlier than 1614, and a commentary on the compiler’s choices and practice. His identity is difficult to establish with any certainty but a lengthy letter in Latin by one Hugo Richardes to one William Yong dated 14 December 1583, and written at Basteldon (Basildon), is copied at the end of the commonplace book. The material ranges from playbooks (by Dekker, Marston and Shakespeare) to pastorals (Sidney’s ‘Arcadia’ and Tofte’s ‘Honours Academie’), through extracts from Plutarch’s ‘Lives’ in North’s translation. There are 28 translations of classical verse transcribed from Plutarch. Seven extracts from Montaigne’s ‘Essays’ in Florio’s translation also occur, but the most surprising source is probably Caxton’s 1550 ‘Reynard the Foxe’ which furnishes 50 quotations. In the beginning of the commonplace book, the compiler explains its purpose by using the well-known Senecan bee and honey trope: applying the extracts to discourse and life. All the extracts are adapted and kept in alphabetical order according to the first word of the extract. Most are proverbial in nature or copied to sound like sentences, and all point to an inspiration for moral and spiritual improvement. The extracts express humanistic concerns, like the power of eloquence and the treachery of public life, and Stoic principles such as constancy in the face of adversity. One central issue seems to be remaining virtuous in a sinful world.