amendes, being borne in Cathanea of Sicilia, of a noble house, no way inferiour vnto you, and of wealth (by the reporte of suche as knowe it) farre exceeding that of yours. 16 PHILO. And I here, in proper person, doe presente vnto you, sir, not onely my assured frendship and brotherhoode, but do earnestly desire you to accepte my [20 poore childe (though vnworthy) as your sonne-in-lawe. And for recompence of the iniurie he hath done you, I profer my whole lands in dower to your daughter; yea, and more would, if more I might. 25 CLEAN. And I, sir, who haue hitherto so earnestly desired your daughter in mariage, doe now willingly yelde vp and quite claime to this yong man, who, both for his yeares and for the loue he beareth hir, is most [30 meetest to be hir husband. For wher I was desirous of a wife by whom I might haue yssue, to leaue that litle which God hath sent me, now haue I litle neede, that (thankes be to God) haue founde my [35 deerely beloued sonne, whom I loste of a childe at the siege of Otranto. DAM. Worthy gentleman, your friendship, your alliaunce, and the nobilitie of your birthe are suche as I haue muche [40 more cause to desire them of you than you to request of me that which is already graunted. Therfore I gladly and willingly receiue the same, and thinke my selfe moste happie now of all my life past [45 that I haue gotten so toward a sonne-inlawe to my selfe, and so worthye a fatherin-lawe to my daughter. Yea, and muche FINIS. Et plauserunt. 1 A medical device, with a pun on "suppose." THE EXCELLENT COMEDIE OF TWO THE MOSTE FAITHFULLEST FREENDES, DAMON AND PITHIAS1 Newly Imprinted, as the same was shewed before the Queenes Maiestie, by the Children of her Graces Chappell, except the Prologue that is somewhat altered for the proper vse of them that hereafter shall haue occasion to plaie it, either in Priuate, or open Audience. Made by Maister Edwards, then beynge Maister of the Children. 1571 Imprinted at London in Fleetelane by Richarde Iohnes, and are to be solde at his shop, ioyning to the Southwest doore of Paules Churche. 1 Richard Edwards, musician and poet, was appointed Master of the Children of the Chapel Royal in 1561, and thenceforth devoted his energies to writing plays to be acted by the boys before Elizabeth. Although he is known to have composed numerous plays for the Court, only Damon and Pithias was published under his name. It was probably performed during the Christmas season of 1564-65. Notable as the first tragi-comedy in England, it well illustrates the refined drama with which the child-actors were accustomed to entertain courtly audiences. Professor Wallace (The Evolution of the English Drama up to Shakespeare, 1912, p. 110) writes: "This fine old tale out of Syracusan history, with its tragic and comic elements happily mingled in a rising tide of suspense to the climax, as presented by Edwards, formed the high-water mark of English drama up to that time.' The earliest extant edition (A) bears the date 1571, but the title-page describes the text as "newly imprinted." Another edition appeared in 1582. I have based the present reprint on Farmer's photographic facsimile reproduction of the copy of the 1571 edition in the British Museum. All changes are recorded in footnotes, and additions set in brackets. The spelling of the original edition is so atrocious that I deemed it wise to modernize, in so far as possible, the spelling as well as the punctuation. John S. Farmer, in Early English Dramatists, 1906, professed to reprint the play "from the edition of 1571," but he merely reproduced the Hazlitt-Dodsley (H.) text. It has not seemed worth while to note all the errors in the exceedingly inaccurate Hazlitt-Dodsley edition; I have observed more than twenty words carelessly dropped, eight words inserted without authority, and over forty serious corruptions of the text, besides innumerable minor mistakes. In A. this is printed after the prologue. |