Nashe writing that Marlowe “contemned his life in comparison of the liberty of speech.” does not mean he 'condemned' his life. The word is not 'condemned', which makes no sense grammatically within the sentence. It is 'contemned' . It means that he was contemptuous of his life in comparison to his belief in the liberty of speech. Not only does that work grammatically, it also works better in describing Marlowe's character.
What is most interesting about the Valladolid episode is not that the man at the English College was the poet, he was not, but that someone who plausibly knew more than most about what happened at Deptford thought that he might be. Vaughan wanted to compare descriptions of the Valladolid man and 'our' Marlowe, which only makes sense if he thought it possible that the poet did not die at Deptford.
Have just read “A Groatsworth of Wit”, the whole thing, including Greene’s letter to his long suffering wife, for the first time. What a grimly fascinating piece, and what light it sheds of the fate of four poets, playwrights all recorded tragically dead within a year of its writing.
Re identification of the upstart crow, connection to Shakespeare as far as I can see rests entirely on one word, Shake-Scene. Strongly against that identification is the date of Groatsworth of wit, 1592, well before there is any evidence of Shakespeare as a successful man in theatre. In the section before the upstart crow reference, Roberto meets a player who commissions him to write plays. This player tells that he has himself written “Dialogue of Dives”, “moral of man’s wit”, has thundered on stage the 12 Labours of Hercules, refers also to Delfrigus and The King of Fairies, and played the Devil in “Highway to Heaven”. I am wondering which of these can be identified with known plays, and how this may help identify the Player. I have read an article by Daryl Pinksen https://www.marlowe-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/jl06_03_pinksen_upstartcrowalleyn.pdf making the case for Edward Alleyn. Case hinges somewhat on reference to ‘able to afford a windmill’ to Possible evidence Alleyn wrote Tambercam and (more strongly) a reference years earlier to Alleyn and a crow in Borrowed feathers. I’d be interested to know what other evidence there is.
Further connection I forgot to mention. I read somewhere a Stratfordian blog which connected writer and printer Robert Crowley with Dialogue of Dives and Moral of man’s wit, and also connected Robert Crowley to Shakespeare of Stratford, claiming the Player Roberto met was supposed to be William Shakespeare. I couldn’t find any other references to verify this. Wondering if anyone has any other information.
All the plays Roberto mentions, if they existed at one point, are lost. There are a lot of lost plays. There is even a Lost Plays Database: https://lostplays.folger.edu/Main_Page
Nashe writing that Marlowe “contemned his life in comparison of the liberty of speech.” does not mean he 'condemned' his life. The word is not 'condemned', which makes no sense grammatically within the sentence. It is 'contemned' . It means that he was contemptuous of his life in comparison to his belief in the liberty of speech. Not only does that work grammatically, it also works better in describing Marlowe's character.
Correction appreciated and made.
Fascinating exploration of some details with which I was heretofore unfamiliar, Ros, re Vaughn, Golden Grove, and the man in Valladolid.
I was going to ask you about footnote 6, but I was able to find the detail myself. Some impressive detective work! http://marlowe-shakespeare.blogspot.com/2010/07/
What is most interesting about the Valladolid episode is not that the man at the English College was the poet, he was not, but that someone who plausibly knew more than most about what happened at Deptford thought that he might be. Vaughan wanted to compare descriptions of the Valladolid man and 'our' Marlowe, which only makes sense if he thought it possible that the poet did not die at Deptford.
Exactly this.
It also shows the power of coincidence and the risk of jumping to conclusions before the facts have been thoroughly checked.
Have just read “A Groatsworth of Wit”, the whole thing, including Greene’s letter to his long suffering wife, for the first time. What a grimly fascinating piece, and what light it sheds of the fate of four poets, playwrights all recorded tragically dead within a year of its writing.
Re identification of the upstart crow, connection to Shakespeare as far as I can see rests entirely on one word, Shake-Scene. Strongly against that identification is the date of Groatsworth of wit, 1592, well before there is any evidence of Shakespeare as a successful man in theatre. In the section before the upstart crow reference, Roberto meets a player who commissions him to write plays. This player tells that he has himself written “Dialogue of Dives”, “moral of man’s wit”, has thundered on stage the 12 Labours of Hercules, refers also to Delfrigus and The King of Fairies, and played the Devil in “Highway to Heaven”. I am wondering which of these can be identified with known plays, and how this may help identify the Player. I have read an article by Daryl Pinksen https://www.marlowe-society.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/jl06_03_pinksen_upstartcrowalleyn.pdf making the case for Edward Alleyn. Case hinges somewhat on reference to ‘able to afford a windmill’ to Possible evidence Alleyn wrote Tambercam and (more strongly) a reference years earlier to Alleyn and a crow in Borrowed feathers. I’d be interested to know what other evidence there is.
I looked into those plays… nowhere to be found. I’ll publish a piece on Groatsworth here shortly.
I'll look forward to it.
Further connection I forgot to mention. I read somewhere a Stratfordian blog which connected writer and printer Robert Crowley with Dialogue of Dives and Moral of man’s wit, and also connected Robert Crowley to Shakespeare of Stratford, claiming the Player Roberto met was supposed to be William Shakespeare. I couldn’t find any other references to verify this. Wondering if anyone has any other information.
The Player is such a perfect fit for Edward Alleyne and such a poor fit for Shakespeare that we don’t need to look elsewhere.
Do "Dialogue of Dives" and "Moral of Man's Wit" reference any known works and author?
All the plays Roberto mentions, if they existed at one point, are lost. There are a lot of lost plays. There is even a Lost Plays Database: https://lostplays.folger.edu/Main_Page