A Mirror for Magistrates (1587)
The First Part of the Mirror for Magistrates. London: Henry Marsh, 1587.
Shakespeare's source for King Lear and for the plot of Cymbeline.
First published in 1559, A Mirror for Magistrates was an anthology of verse narratives called “tragedies” in which the ghosts of eminent statesmen from English history, such as King Richard III, were imagined describing the manner of their downfall. There were seven editions by 1587, several edited by John Higgins, a classical scholar who added tragedies about Roman figures such as Julius Caesar.
Scholars have demonstrated that Shakespeare used material from the four tragedies that Higgins added in the 1587 edition. (See Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare’s Sources [1957], p. 234.)
Fragment, lacking a total of 32 leaves (the initial 12 prefatory leaves, ff1, 24, 34, 41, 48 & 59, and the final 14 leaves at rear, final leaf present is folio 258). Fragments of original velum binding and cords.
References: STC 13445, Pforzheimer 737
The First Part of the Mirror for Magistrates. London: Henry Marsh, 1587.
Shakespeare's source for King Lear and for the plot of Cymbeline.
First published in 1559, A Mirror for Magistrates was an anthology of verse narratives called “tragedies” in which the ghosts of eminent statesmen from English history, such as King Richard III, were imagined describing the manner of their downfall. There were seven editions by 1587, several edited by John Higgins, a classical scholar who added tragedies about Roman figures such as Julius Caesar.
Scholars have demonstrated that Shakespeare used material from the four tragedies that Higgins added in the 1587 edition. (See Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare’s Sources [1957], p. 234.)
Fragment, lacking a total of 32 leaves (the initial 12 prefatory leaves, ff1, 24, 34, 41, 48 & 59, and the final 14 leaves at rear, final leaf present is folio 258). Fragments of original velum binding and cords.
References: STC 13445, Pforzheimer 737
The First Part of the Mirror for Magistrates. London: Henry Marsh, 1587.
Shakespeare's source for King Lear and for the plot of Cymbeline.
First published in 1559, A Mirror for Magistrates was an anthology of verse narratives called “tragedies” in which the ghosts of eminent statesmen from English history, such as King Richard III, were imagined describing the manner of their downfall. There were seven editions by 1587, several edited by John Higgins, a classical scholar who added tragedies about Roman figures such as Julius Caesar.
Scholars have demonstrated that Shakespeare used material from the four tragedies that Higgins added in the 1587 edition. (See Kenneth Muir, Shakespeare’s Sources [1957], p. 234.)
Fragment, lacking a total of 32 leaves (the initial 12 prefatory leaves, ff1, 24, 34, 41, 48 & 59, and the final 14 leaves at rear, final leaf present is folio 258). Fragments of original velum binding and cords.
References: STC 13445, Pforzheimer 737