University of Virginia Library

THE THESIS OF THIS STUDY IS THAT MANY MINOR discoveries await the literary detective prepared to apply ingenuity to the hundreds of initials that appear in British Renaissance books. The body of the study consists of a survey of problems, with numerous examples. Younger scholars may profit from the instruction; old hands will at least be grateful for the illustrations. Lest it be suspected that "M, O, A, I, doth sway my life," I hasten to give assurance that no time will be wasted rehearsing disputes over such cruxes as Mr. W. H. of Shakespeare's Sonnets and E. K. of

documentation and the source of the solutions cited. All examples of initials are from British books published before 1641; these are cited by date and by serial number in the standard bibliography, A. W. Pollard and Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue, 1475-1640 (London, 1926). I have endeavored to give credit for all solutions that I have borrowed. Solutions for which no authority is cited may be considered to be either in the common domain or now independently advanced by the writer. Of course it is possible that some of mine may have been noted earlier by others.

Before entering on an exploration of the field, the reader may appreciate, as an interest arouser, sample solutions to illustrate the use of external and internal evidence. A pretty Spenser problem shows that opportunity remains for discovery. Over the past century authorities have been content to observe that one of Edmund Spenser's last published poems was his set of commendatory verses before The Historie of George Castriot (1596-15318), translated by Z. I. One might suppose that such an unusual signature would have spurred search, although I confess that I have met another Z[acharias] I[enkinson], a Rutlandshire preacher (1620-11838). The Castriot translation, however, is explicitly claimed by Zachary Jones in the epistle to the reader before

his translation of A Treatise of Specters (1605-15448). Accordingly we may add to the circle of Spenser's friends a Lincoln's Inn barrister who had been a younger contemporary of the poet at Cambridge. Detection of this link has perhaps been delayed by the fact that STC misprints the name of the translator of the Treatise as L. Jones. This is a neat example of the danger of manuscript copy, for the error occurred in setting from manuscript slips prepared from the British Museum catalogue of English books before 1641, where the name is correctly printed as Z. Jones.

As an example of internal evidence, we may consider Henry Perry's Eglvryn Phraethineb (1595-19775), with commendatory Latin verses by "I. H. Novi Coll. & nov. Temp. Socius." The only contemporary I. H. who could claim to be both a fellow of New College, Oxford, and a member of the Middle Temple was the noted wit John Hoskins. The aura of the signature confirms the identification, for Hoskins had many Welsh connections and his wit shows in the rather obscure designation for the Middle Temple in order to balance with "Novi Coll." Thus a poem is added to the Hoskins canon.

The precision of these proofs suggests a warning. Nothing is more futile than irresponsible conjecture. Almost as bad is premature satisfaction when one has hit on a likely fellow whose name fits. Much print has been wasted listing possible candidates. Cautionary examples are in order. Even so reliable a scholar as Edward F. Rimbault, in editing Overbury, suggested that the E. G. with verses before A Wife (1616-18910) was Edmund Gayton, who was in fact about eight years old at the time. In his abridgment of Sylvester's DuBartas,[1] Theron W. Haight felt obliged to advance plausible candidates for most of the commendatory verse writers. An unrecorded 1598 installment of Sylvester's translation has recently come to light at the Folger Library. This reveals the actual writers in three instances. Haight had conjectured that the R. H. (1605-21649) was Robert Hasill, a sufficiently obscure versifier. He now proves to be rather a complete nonentity, R: Hyther. Haight prudently made no guesses for the other two: G[eorge] B[urgh] Cantabridg. and Si[mon] Ca[rril] Gen.