''Palladis Tamia: Wits Treasury; Being the Second Part of Wits Commonwealth'' is a 1598 book written by the minister

Francis Meres Francis Meres (1565/1566 – 29 January 1647) was an English churchman and author. His 1598 commonplace book includes the first critical account of poems and plays by Shakespeare. Career Francis Meres was born in 1565 at Kirton Meres in the par ...

. It is important in English literary history as the first critical account of the poems and early plays of

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

. It was listed in the Stationers Register 7 September 1598. ''Palladis Tamia'' contains moral and critical reflections borrowed from various sources, and included sections on books, on philosophy, on music and painting, as well as the famous "Comparative Discourse of our English poets with the Greeke, Latin, and Italian poets" that enumerates the English poets from

Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for '' The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He w ...

to Meres' own day, and compares each with a classical author. While Meres is considerably indebted to George Puttenham's earlier ''The Arte of English Poesie'' (1589), the section extends the catalogue of poets and contains many first notices of Meres's contemporaries. The title refers to Greek Πᾰλλᾰ́δος (''Pallados'', "of Pallas," a name of

Athena Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress of ...

), and ταμεία (''tameia'', "treasury"). There is also probably a pun on ''Tamia'', a

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

name for the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the ...

. The book was reissued in 1634 as a school book, and was partially reprinted in the ''Ancient Critical Essays'' (1811-1811) of

Joseph Haslewood Joseph Haslewood (5 November 1769 – 21 September 1833) was an English writer and antiquary. He was a founder of the Roxburghe Club. Life Haslewood was born in London, the son of Richard Haslewood and his wife Mary Dewsberry.Francis Haslewood Th ...

Edward Arber Edward Arber (4 December 183623 November 1912) was an English scholar, writer, and editor. Background and professional work Arber was born in London. From 1854 he 1878 he worked as a clerk in the Admiralty, and began evening classes at Kin ...

's ''English Garner'', and

George Gregory Smith Prof George Gregory Smith (20 June 1865 – 3 March 1932) was a Scottish literary critic. He corresponded with Mark Twain, and also lived in Florence for a while. He died in London but is buried with his wife Mary east of the western path in D ...

's ''Elizabethan Critical Essays'' (1904).

Shakespeare references

In the "Comparative Discourse" section Meres lists a dozen Shakespearean plays, identified by him as six comedies and six tragedies (Comedy: ''Two Gentlemen of Verona, Comedy of Errors, Love's Labours Lost, Love Labours Won, Midsummer Night's Dream'', and ''Merchant of Venice''; "Tragedy": ''Richard II, Richard III, Henry the IV, King John, Titus Andronicus'', and'' Romeo and Juliet''), establishing their composition before 1598. This passage has sometimes been taken to indicate that only those Shakespeare plays had been written by 1598. However, there is no way of knowing how complete Meres' knowledge of the published plays actually was or whether he even intended to produce a comprehensive list of all the plays; at the very least, it is generally agreed that Meres neglects ''The Taming of the Shrew'' (1590–91), and all three parts of the ''Henry VI'' trilogy which most scholars believe were written by 1591, seven years before ''Palladis Tamia''.

Marlowe references

In the "Comparative Discourse" section Meres describes the "tragicall death" of "our tragicall poet"

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the "m ...

who "was stabd to death by a bawdy seruing man, a riuall of his in his lewde loue." This passage implied that Marlowe had been killed in a fight over a lover, though the word "rival" can also mean "companion", perhaps implying that the serving man himself was the lover.Stephen Orgel, ''The Authentic Shakespeare and Other Problems of Early Modern Theatre'', Routledge, 2002, p.22. It was the second published reference to Marlowe's death, following

Thomas Beard Thomas Beard (died 1632) was an English clergyman and theologian, of Puritan views. He is known as the author of ''The Theatre of Gods Judgements'', and the schoolmaster of Oliver Cromwell at Huntingdon. Life He was, it is believed, a native of ...

's ''Theatre of God's Judgements'' (1597), which states that Marlowe was stabbed in self-defence by a man he attacked in the street. The full details of Marlowe's death in 1593 were only finally uncovered by

Leslie Hotson John Leslie Hotson, (16 August 1897 – 16 November 1992) was a scholar of Elizabethan literary puzzles. Biography He was born at Delhi, Ontario, on 16 August 1897. He studied at Harvard University, where he obtained a B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. He we ...

in 1925.

Context

''Palladis Tamia'' translates from the Greek literally as "Pallas' Housewife". "Tamia" is the Greek word for a female slave in charge of a household, but it is more likely that "tamia" as used by Meres in this case is a form of "tamias", a dispenser, steward or treasurer, and here used to suggest, by metonymy, the "Treasury" of Meres's subtitle. "Palladis" is the Latin genitive of "Pallas," another name for the goddess

, who in Greek mythology was the goddess of wisdom and statecraft. Thus, ''Palladis Tamia'' becomes the "dispenser" or "treasurer" of Pallas Athena, or "wisdom". ''Palladis Tamia'' was the second in a series of four volumes of short pithy sayings with the generic title of ''Wits Commonwealth'', the first of which was ''Politeuphuia: Wits Commonwealth'' (1597), compiled by

John Bodenham John Bodenham (c. 1559–1610), an English anthologist In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. ...

or by

Nicholas Ling Nicholas Ling (fl.1570–1607) was a London publisher, bookseller, and editor who published several important Elizabethan works, including the first and second quartos of Shakespeare's ''Hamlet''. Ling was the son of John Lynge, a parchment make ...

, the publisher. The third volume was ''Wits Theater of the Little World'' (1599), dedicated to Bodenham and variously credited to him, Robert Allott, or Ling, and the fourth and last was, ''Palladis Palatium: wisedoms pallace. Or The fourth part of Wits commonwealth'' (1604), with no author named but attributed to William Wrednott in the Stationer’s Register.

Notes

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Bibliography

*Allen, Don C. “The Classical Scholarship of Francis Meres” ''PMLA'', XLVIII: 1 (March 1933), 418-425. *Bentley, Gerald Eades. “

John Cotgrave John Cotgrave (1611 - ?) was an English anthologist whose works included ''Wit's Interpreter'', notable for containing the earliest detailed descriptions of card games in English.Excerpt from ''Palladis Tamia'' in George Gregory Smith's ''Elizabethan Critical Essays'' (1904), pp. 308-24.Excerpt from ''Palladis Tamia'' in Egerton Brydges' ''Censura Literaria'' v. IX (1809), pp. 39-55.
Essays about poetry William Shakespeare 1598 books

Shakespeare references

Marlowe references

Context

See also

Notes

Bibliography