Tragedie of Richard the Third,' reprinted by Boswell in 1821, is there noticed. confine ourselves to some observations on the state of the text. We shall at present The mode in which the modern text of the Richard III. has been constructed is thus stated by Malone" In this play the variations between the original copy in quarto, and the folio, are more numerous than, I believe, in any other of our author's pieces. The alterations, it is highly probable, were made, not by Shakspeare, but by the players, many of them being very injudicious." This would appear a sufficient reason for the modern editors rejecting the text of the folio altogether. But they have not followed this course, which would at least have the merit of consistency. They have adopted these alterations, made " 'by the players," in by far the greater number of cases. For example there are about one hundred and twenty new lines introduced in the folio-" by the players," of course; in one case there is a single passage amounting to fifty-five lines. These new lines are all adopted; and they are most important lines. In a great number of minute instances the text of the folio is preferred by them; and Steevens says, unhesitatingly, that it is the best text. On the other hand, there is a remarkable passage, most thoroughly Shaksperian (Act IV., Scene II.), which is not found in the folio; and the modern text very properly adopts it. This is the only instance in which, to our minds, any advantage has resulted from the collation of the quartos; and this passage was restored by Pope. We will give one or two examples of the mode in which the text of the folio has been preferred by the modern editors to that of the quartos, in addition to their adoption of all the new lines : FOLIO OF 1623. And the queen's sons and brothers, haught and proud. A dream of what thou wast; a garish flag, Thy school-days, frightful, desperate, wild, and furious; QUARTO OF 1597. And the queen's kindred, haughty and proud. A dream of what thou wert, a breath, a bubble, To be the aim of every dangerous shot. Thy school-days, frightful, desperate, wild, and furious; Taking, then, the authority of the folio in part, and rejecting it in part, the modern editors have proceeded to manufacture a text upon the principle which has been thus stated by Malone: "The text has been formed out of the two copies, the folio and the early quarto; from which the preceding editors have in every scene selected such readings as appeared to them fit to be adopted. То enumerate every variation between the copies would encumber the page, with little use." Nothing, we think, can be more unsatisfactory than this mode of proceeding; and Malone gets out of the difficulty by depreciating the folio at every turn, whilst he in reality adopts all its more important readings. He says, "several alterations were made in this play, evidently unauthorized by Shakspeare." These are the alterations which, no doubt, he passes over sub silentio. We adopt, once for all, the text of the folio, with the exception of three or four passages, where we follow the quarto, and state our reasons for this course. In our foot-notes we have not, adopting the text of the folio, indicated all the variations in the quartos; but we have indicated every passage in which our text is a variation from the received text, and this for the purpose that, when the critical student encounters a reading different from that to which he is accustomed, he may compare and judge for himself. THE Monk of Croyland informs us that "the new fashion" Edward IV. " chose for his last state dresses was to have very full hanging sleeves, like a monk's, lined with most sumptuous furs, and so rolled over his shoulders as to give his tall person an air of peculiar grandeur." This fashion was continued during the remainder of the century, and was not altogether abandoned in the reign of Henry VIII. By a sumptuary law enacted in the last year of Edward's reign, we find also that purple cloth of gold and silk of a purple colour were confined to the use of the royal family, while none under the degree of a duke might wear cloth of gold of tissue. Inferior noblemen were restricted to plain cloth of gold, knights to velvet, esquires to satin, &c. Short gowns and upperdresses of various descriptions were worn at this time, with long sleeves, having an opening in front, through which the arm came, leaving the outer sleeve to hang as an ornament from the shoulder. This fashion may be seen in the engraving at page 152 of this volume. Feathers became more frequent towards the close of this reign, one or more being worn in the cap, behind, and jewelled up the stem. The hair was worn in large square masses on each side of the head, and low on the forehead. There are two portraits of Richard III., painted on board, in the meeting-room of the Society of Antiquaries at Somerset House. Both were bequeathed to the Society by the late Mr. Kerrich. The first has been lithographed for the fifth volume of the 'Paston Letters.' It represents the king attired in a robe of cloth of gold over a close dress of scarlet, a black cap with a pearl ornament. His hair brown and long. His right hand is engaged in placing a ring upon, or drawing it off, the third finger of the left hand. This portrait is evidently by the same painter with that of Edward IV., described at page 153. In the other, Richard is portrayed with a short sword or dagger in his hand, dressed in a black robe, with sleeves of black and crimson, an under-dress of cloth of gold, and a small black cap. In the absence of any well-authenticated portrait or effigy of Richard these paintings are certainly very interesting, as there can be little doubt that they were executed during or immediately subsequent to his reign, and may therefore be presumed to convey a general idea of the style of person and dress, if not an absolute likeness. In both he is represented as a hard-featured man, with rather a forbidding countenance, and certainly not bearing out the flattering description of the old Countess of Desmond, who had danced with him when Duke of Gloster, and is stated to have declared that he was the handsomest man in the room except his brother King Edward IV.* Sir Thomas More, however, says "his face was hard-favoured or warly," which latter word Grafton renders "warlike;" and unless these pictures were painted purposely with the view of creating or confirming a popular prejudice, they may be considered as fully warranting the historian's description.t Richard and the Duke of Buckingham were both remarkable for their love of finery. A list of the king's dresses exists amongst the Harleian MSS. (No. 433, p. 126), which was sent by Richard himself from York to the keeper of his wardrobe in London, August 31st, 1483; and in the 'Antiquarian Repertory' is published a wardrobe account of the first year of his reign, in which there is a detailed description of the magnificent dresses worn by the king, queen, and court, at the coronation. On the day preceding that gorgeous ceremony the Duke of Buckingham, in the royal progress through the city, rode a courser caparisoned with blue velvet, embroidered with axles or wheels in gold (a badge of the Stafford family), the trappings being held out by pages for the better display of them.+ In the Warwick Roll is a figure of Richard in armour, and surrounded by the crests of France, England, Ireland, Gascony, and Wales; the latter being a greyhound in a cradlee-a curious allusion to the well-known legend of 'Beth-Gellert.' In the same most interesting document is a drawing of Richard's queen, Anne, which presents us with the peculiar head-dress characterising this period, namely, a cap or caul of gold embroidery, covered by a veil of some very transparent material, stiffened out in the form of wings. Of Henry Earl of Richmond we know no representation previous to his ascending the throne. Two portraits of John, the first Howard Duke of Norfolk, and one of his son the Earl of Surrey, are given in the privately printed work, 'Memorials of the Howard Family,' a copy of which is in the library of the Society of Antiquaries. * Walpole's Hist. Doubts, p. 102. It is said by Polydore Virgil that Richard had a trick of fidgeting with his dagger, continually half drawing and sheathing it again, while in conversation. One might imagine the painter of the second picture had intended to represent this peculiarity. The opinion of Mr. Sharon Turner also, that this habit was but "the mark of a restless impatience of spirit which would not let even the fingers be quiet," is singularly supported by the first portrait, in which Richard appears to be playing in the same manner with his ring by drawing it off and on his finger. Grafton's Chron. Sir Thos. Vaughan lies buried in Westminster Abbey, and the brass plate on his tomb presents us with a good specimen of the armour of this period, with its large pauldrons, elbow-plates, and genouillères. A portrait of Lord Stanley (as Earl of Derby) is to be found in 'Lodge's Series of Illustrious Personages.' A The livery colours of the Tudor family were white and green. One of the standards of Henry Earl of Richmond at Bosworth field was a red dragon upon white and green sarcenet. Another was a dun cow upon "yellow tarterne." Richard's armorial supporters were white boars. white boar was also his favourite badge. In his letter from York he orders "four standards of sarconet and thirteen gonfanons of fustian, with boars." Richard's favourite badge of cognizance was worn by the higher order of his partisans appendant to a collar of roses and suns. Such a collar decorates the monumental figure of Ralph, second Earl of Westmoreland, in the church of Brancepeth, in the county of Durham; and by the favour of Sir Henry Ellis we copy this from an original drawing by the late Mr. Charles Stothard. This is probably the only contemporary representation of Richard's collar and device now remaining. |
