- 597
MONTEMAYOR Jorge de
Estimate
10,000 - 15,000 USD
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Description
- MONTEMAYOR Jorge de
- Diana of George of Montemayor: Translated out of Spanish into English by Bartholomew Yong of the Middle Temple Gentleman. London: by Edm. Bollifant, Impenis, G.B., 1598
- ink, paper, leather
Folio (10 1/2 x 7 in.; 272 x 179 mm). Woodcut allegorical border to title-page (McKerrow & Ferguson 167), woodcut floral initials; old signature on title with some rubbing along outer margin, tiny rust holes to F1, M4-5, closed tear to EE5 with some minor restoration in lower margin, minor scattered pale spotting. Modern brown morocco gilt, edges gilt.
Provenance
acquisition: Bernard Quaritch, 2007
Literature
STC 18044; ESTC S122233; Bartlett 265
Catalogue Note
First edition in English of this Shakespeare sourcebook.
"The ultimate source for 'The Two Gentleman of Verona' was Diana by J. de Montemayor, which Shakespeare could have read in a French translation (1578), or possibly in B. Young's English version, not published until 1598, but made some sixteen years previously" (Kenneth Muir, The Sources of Shakespeare's Plays). "The story of the shepherdess Felismena, beginning on page 54, is certainly the story of Proteus and Julia in 'Two Gentlemen of Verona,' while 'Twelfth Night' also shows points of resemblance" (Bartlett, William Shakespeare).