IN The Genesis of Shakespeare Idolatry,
1766-1799, Professor R. W.
Babcock[1] brought together an
impressive bibliography of late eighteenth-century
Shakespearean criticism. The list, as it stands after
twenty years, is so comprehensive that supplements to it
are worthy of attention when they come to light. The
purpose of this article is to name two volumes which
supplement the following sections of Professor Babcock's
study: (1) "Primary Texts," 1770-1774, pages 254-255; (2)
"Shakespeare, Original Genius," pages 123-126; and (3)
"The Application of Theories of Association to Various
Aspects of Shakespeare," pages 176-182.
The first volume to which I call attention was published by
William Duff in 1770: Critical
Observations | on the |
Writings | of the most celebrated | Original Geniuses in Poetry. | Being a Sequel | to the | Essay
on Original Genius.
[London: Printed for T. Becket and P. A. DeHondt, in the
Strand].
[2] Section III of this work
is a criticism and an appreciation of Shakespeare's
original genius in the invention of incident, character,
and imagery, and in the expression of the sublime, the
pathetic, the wild and picturesque, and the supernatural.
In addition to the seventy-page discussion in Section III,
other comments upon Shakespeare appear in the book (pp.
95, 120, 197, and 365). The comprehensiveness of Duff's
treatment of Shakespeare makes this volume an essential
supplement to Professor Babcock's bibliography. Added
significance of the supplement derives from the fact that
Critical Observations was
not mentioned by Mr. Paul Kaufman in "Heralds of Original
Genius";
[3] nor did Professor R. S. Crane name
the work when he reviewed Mr. Kaufman's study in "English
Literature of the Restoration and Eighteenth Century: A
Current Bibliography" (
PQ, VI
[1927], 168-169).
The second volume to which I call attention is a critical
application of the laws of association to Shakespeare's
plays. According to Professor Babcock, "The psychological
process of association was perhaps first applied
definitely to interpret Shakespeare in this period by
William Richardson in 1774."[4] Without
disputing the priority of William Richardson, I call
attention to another work published in that year, 1774,
which was not mentioned by Professor Babcock and not
listed in his bibliography, but which contains a
well-developed criticism of Shakespeare's plays according
to the principles of association: "An | Essay | on | Genius | By | Alexander Gerard, D. D. |
Professor of Divinity in King's College. | Aberdeen."
[London: Printed for W. Strahan; T. Cadell in the Strand;
and W. Creech at Edinburgh].
Although Gerard had read papers on genius and on the
association of ideas before the Aberdeen Philosophical
Society between 1758 and 1771 and had, according to his
Advertisement, made some progress toward An Essay on Genius as early as 1758,
Richardson's philosophical analysis reached the public
first, being reviewed in May, 1774, whereas Gerard's was
noticed several months later.[5] The evidence of
the periodicals thus discredits Robert Chambers' belief
that Richardson was not published until 1775,[6] a date that would have given Gerard
priority in the publication of a philosophical analysis of
Shakespeare's plays in terms of the laws of association.
In An Essay on Genius the detailed
study of Shakespeare was the climax to Gerard's study of
genius, and all except one of his significant
illustrations
came from Shakespeare. How
much earlier than 1774 Gerard had in fact applied the laws
of association to Shakespeare's work cannot be precisely
determined, for much of his work between 1758 and 1771 had
been for oral presentation.
