Originally published in The Athenæum (Longman, Rees, Hurst and Orme; Cadell and Davies) vol.1 #2 (01 Feb 1807).
"The seconde Parte of the Catalogue of English printed Bookes: eyther written in our owne tongue, or translated out of any other language: which concerneth the Sciences Mathematicall, as Arithmetick, Geometrie, Astronomie, Astrologie, Musick, the Arte of Warre, and Navigation: And also, of Phisicks and Surgerie: Which haue beene published to the glorie of God, and the benefit of the Commonweale of England. Gathered into Alphabet[1] etc: by Andrew Maunsell—. At London. Printed by James Roberts, for Andrew Maunsell, dwelling in Lothburie, 1595."
Folio, pp. 27, without the dedication, etc:
This second part the compiler dedicates to the memorable Earl of Essex (whose arms are most beautifully cut on wood at the back of the title) and whom he styles "a most honourable patrone of learned men and theyr works;" to "the Professors of the Sciences Mathematicall, and of Phisicke and Surgery;" and as before, to the "Company of Stationers, Printers, etc:" in this last he says,
"Hauing shewed you in my former part of the use of my tables, I will onely in thys shew you and the curteous readers, that I haue set the VVriters of Arithmetick, Musick, Nauigation and Warre together, vsing the playnest way I could deuise.
"Now it resteth, that I should proceede to the thirde and last part, which is of Humanity, wherein I shall haue occasion to shew, what we haue in our owne tongue, of Gramer, Logick, Rethoricke, Lawe, Historie, Poetrie, Policie, etc. Which will for the most part concerne matters of Delight and Pleasure, wherein I have already laboured, as in the rest; but finding it so troublesome to get sight of Bookes, and so tedious to digest into any good methode, I haue thought good first to publish the two more necessarie parts, which if I may perceaue to be well liked of, will whet me on to proceed in the rest (as God shall make me able) with better courage."
We are to suppose from this, that he did not meet with sufficient encouragement, for certain it is, that this third part never made its appearance; as this would doubtless have been the most interesting, we cannot but agree with Mr. Steevens, who says "it is much to be lamented that Maunsell did not proceed to his third collection." Further extracts from the work are unnecessary.
"The Choise of Change: Containing the Triplicitie of Diuinitie, Philosophie, and Poetrie, Short for Memorie, Profitable for Knowledge, and Necessarie for Maners: Whereby the Learned may be confirmed, the Ignorant instructed, and all Men generally recreated. Newly set foorth by S.R. Gent. and Student in the Vniversitie of Cambridge. Tria sunt omnia. At London Printed by Roger Warde, dwelling neere Holburne Conduite, at the figure of the Talbot. An. Dom. 1585."
4to. vl. 1. not paged, but containing pp. 91, black letter.
Although it is impossible to state with any degree of certainty who was the author of this curious and entertaining volume, we have a strong suspicion that it was written by Doctor Simon Robson, who in the year 1598 was made dean of Bristol: he died in 1617.
It is dedicated to Sir Henry Herbert, Sir Philip Sidney, and Robert Sidney, to whom "S.R. wisheth increase of vertuous qualities in the mind, of the gifts of the body, and goodes of Fortune;" this is followed by a short address
"To the Reader.
1. He that knoweth not that he ought to know, is a brute beast among men.
2, He that knoweth no more then he hath need of, is a man among brute beasts.
3. He that knoweth all that may bee knowen, is a God among men.
1. Read willingly.
2. Correct friendly.
3. Judge indifferently."
"The Triplicitie of Diuinitie, Philosophie, and Poetrie," consist each of two hundreths, and each hundreth contains 100 instances." A few extracts will explain the author's plan and execution.
[2]"He that will live in quiet, must frame himself to three things—To hear, see, and say nothing.
"The philosopher Aristotle believed but three things—That which he touched with his hand; That which he saw with his eyes; That which he could comprehend in argument.
"Three things which cause a man to keep his friends—If he give much; If he ask little; If he take nothing.
"Three things necessary in a flatterer—An impudent face; A stedfast colour; A changing voice.
"Trust not three things—Dog's teeth; Horse's feet; Women's protestations.
"Three things are uncertain and unconstant—The favour of princes; The love of women; The shining of the sun in April.
"There are three very strong things—Gold, for there is no place invincible wherein an ass laden with gold, may enter; Love, because it provoketh us to adventure our goods, life, renown, and all; Labour, because it overcommeth all things."
The whole ends with "Deo trino et uni sit laus; honor et gloria. Amen."
L'Amadigi di M. Bernardo Tasso.
When Tasso the father was at Ghent, 1544, the chief persons of Charles the Fifth's court, and especially D. Luis de Avila and D. Francisco de Toledo exhorted him to write a poem upon Amadis of Gaul; that delightful story they thought would become still more delightful, if varied with new episodes, and told in sweet verse. Bernardo caught at the subject, and set himself to the work with wonderful pleasure, and the ardour of his whole heart. His first intention was to write in versi sciolti:[3] for rhymes he thought were unequal to the grandeur and dignity of heroic narrative; but Ariosto's poem was ia the hands of every one, and Avila and his own patron Sanseverino pressed him so strongly to adopt the octave stanza, that he yielded to their arguments. In another essential point Bernardo differed from the prevailing taste of his time; he wished to observe the rules of Aristotle in his story, and not, as was the custom of all his country poets, to branch it out into as many heads as the Hydra, and as many arms as those of Briareus! With this intent, therefore, he selected a part of the romance, and began to write La Disperazione d'Amadigi. The despair of Amadis, intending to conclude with the battle between Lisuarte and King Cildadan, when Amadis, having previously been reconciled to Oriana, discovers himself in the moment of victory. No master of the art, says his greater son, could have formed a better or more beautiful design.
This part of the Romance which Bernardo had selected, begins with the 41st chapter of the first book, and ends with the sixteenth of the second.[4] He had woven into it as much of the preceding history as was necessary to be known, and such of the after parts as it was desirable to introduce. When, however, he came to read these cantos at the court of Salerno, he perceived that when he began, the chamber was unusually full, and that before he had done, it was nearly empty: from this he concluded, that the unity of action was in its nature not delightful; knowing that he had perfectly observed all the rules of art. It will be readily suspected that there was a more obvious cause of failure in his own poetry; this; however, was not the case. Strange as it may appear, the desultory and capricious manner of Ariosto had fascinated the Italians; they attributed that pleasure, which his exquisite poetry gave them, to his irregular method—if that may be called method which has none—and were so accustomed to pantomimic changes of scene, and those flea-skips of story, as to be incapable of listening to a regular narrative; just as the prevalence of essays, reviews, magazines, and miscellanies has almost incapacitated the present public from enjoying or understanding any work which requires continuous attention. They prest him to change his plan, and gratify their craving for frequent novelty, by following the fashionable model; the prince laid his commands upon him to the same effect, and Bernardo, as his son says, that he might not lose the name of a good courtier, no longer attempted to retain by force that of the best poet, and obeyed,
Ma col cor mesto e con turbato ciglio.
But with reluctant heart and troubled brow.
Thus re-modelled, the Amadigi was received with applause, and its success in its altered state, proved that its former failure was attributable, not to the dulness of the poet, but to the vitiated taste of the people.
It is a formidable task to analize a poem which is more than a fourth part larger than the Faery Queen, consisting of 100 cantos. But it is interesting to see with what success Bernardo Tasso, whom his son pronounced to be a great and excellent poet, has converted into poetry that exquisite Romance, which the same high authority has declared in the judgment of many, and especially in his own, to be the most beautiful of its kind, and the most perfect in variety of incident, in manners, and in truth of character.
1. Same device, etc: as in the first part.
2. The spelling is here modernized.
3. It is better to use the Italian term than to call it blank verse, from which the versi sciolti essentially differ. Some remarks upon this metre will be offered hereafter, in an account of the Italia Liberata of Trissino.
4. In the English-translation from p. 36 to 255, vol. 2.