George Washington University

Folger Booklets on Tudor and Stuart Civilization: Music in Elizabethan England. by Dorothy E.
Mason; Shakespeare's Theatre and the Dramatic Tradition. by Louis B. Wright; The Life of
William Shakespeare. by Giles E. Dawson; The Bible in English, 1525-1611. by Craig R.
Thompson; English Dress in the Age of Shakespeare. by Virginia La Mar; The English Church
in the Sixteenth Century. by Craig R. Thompson
Review by: Waveney R. N. Payne
Shakespeare Quarterly, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Winter, 1959), pp. 98-99
Published by: Folger Shakespeare Library in association with George Washington University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2867030 .
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98 SHAKESPEAREQUARTERLY

from someone else's point of view. The fourth pattern", says Mr. McCollom,
"would seem to be best" for tragedy written in our own time. I should myself
have said not that the "fourth pattern" (i.e. relativist morality) was best for our
time, but that it was not available at all until our time, just as the other alterna-
tives are no longer available to dramatists in the same way in which they have
been available to dramatists in earlier periods. The concept of moral responsi-
bility is only a part of a larger concept of reality itself. Man's conception of
reality has changed continuously, at least since the time of Thespis (and also
since the time of James and Pratt), carrying with it man's concepts of art and
morality. In order to succeed in saving his idea from both epistemological
aesthetics and epistemological ethics, Mr. McCollom should have engaged the
parent of them both, which is epistemological metaphysics.
I think myself that the idea which Mr. McCollom was trying to defend is
defensible within the framework of the modern epistemological view of reality;
had he begun his building on the foundation of a concept of reality broad
enough to support art as well as morality (a metaphysic as comprehensive as
Cassirer's,for example); had he erected on that foundation the substructureof
a concept of art; and had he then on that foundation and that substructure
erected his concept of tragedy, he might have built the Master Builder's single
tall tower instead of two short ones.
University of Virginia SEARSJAYNE

Folger Booklets on Tudor and Stuart Civilization: Music in Elizabethan England. By

DOROTHY E. MASON; Shakespeare'sTheatre and the Dramatic Tradition.By LOUIS B. WRIGHT;
The Life of William Shakespeare.By GILES E. DAWSON. The Bible in English, i525-i6ii. By
CRAIG R. THOMPSON. English Dress in the Age of Shakespeare.By VIRGINIA LA MAR. The
English Churchin the Sixteenth Century.By CRAIG R. THOMPSON. Washington, D. C.: The
Folger ShakespeareLibrary, I958. Pp. [ii] + 38; [iv] + 36; [ii] + 34; [ii] + 37; [ii]
+ 42; [ii] + 57. 75 centsapiece.
It is a most welcome digression when a library so large and distinguished as
the Folger Shakespeare Library, which has hitherto only served the need of
the most advanced student, should decide to take upon itself some responsibility
to the general reader.
With the appearanceof these six brief and pleasant excursions into the six-
teenth and seventeenth centuries, and also with the current Folger Library Gen-
eral Reader's Shakespeare, this Library has accepted another challenge offered
by its enormous holdings and its undoubted supremacy in the literature of the
period. An introduction to the series states that it has begun "a programme to
make its materials useful to a much broader audience by publishing concise il-
lustrated works dealing with a wide variety of subjects in a scholarly but read-
able fashion so that they will be useful to non-specialists. The purpose of these
publications is to make accurate information, reflecting the latest discoveries,
available in brief, clear monographs graphically illustrated from contemporary
pictures and engravings."
It is an admirable venture and also a wise one; for advanced research, such
as the Folger Library promotes, is most successful when it has its proper place
in a hierarchyof informed interest in the subject. Ultimately, it is only with the
goodwill of a multitude of general readersthat researchis approved. These gen-
eral readers whom the Folger Library now addresses are its inheritors, for they
reap the harvest of that immense, patient, and inspired sifting of information
that is called research.
The pamphlets are well printed, in clear type, upon good cream paper. There

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 REVIEWS 99
are two stylesof title-page,both quite elegant;one moreformal,and the other,
which I like better,a little moredecorated.It is a pity that the coversare cream,
and of paper,for theywill becomeshabbywith verylittle handling.The numer-
ous illustrations(presumablytaken from manuscriptsand booksin the Folger
Librarywhere no other sourceis given), are a most attractivefeature,being
well chosenand adequatelydescribed.
The Life of WilliamShakespeareby Giles E. Dawson gives a straightfor-
ward and concisedescriptionof events.He takes no accountof theories,but
the amountof informationhe so agreeablygives in his sixteenpagesis astonish-
ing. The bibliography,if one leavesout the worksof quick reference,is rather
brief.
Shakespeare's Theatreand the DramaticTraditionby Louis B. Wrighttakes
the historyof the theatrebackto its originsin the church,and its development
throughthe Mysteryand Moralityplays,Interludes,and the earlytheatres,to
Shakespeare's own companyat the Globeand Blackfriarstheatres.Dr. Wright
deals with plays and staging as well as the theatres,and touchesbrieflyupon
actorsand their audiences.Like Dr. Dawson he steersa centrecoursebetween
theories.The bibliographyis excellent.
The English Churchin the SixteenthCenturyby CraigR. Thompsongives,
with admirableskill and a certaindetachment,the struggleof the Churchof
England againstits Catholicand Puritanrivals,and its final emergenceas an
effectiveinstrumentof State.The officialpredicamentand attitudetowardsdis-
sentersis well described.
The Bible in English,I525-i6ii, by the sameauthorgives yet anotheraspect
of the historyof this period.It is a fascinatingand complexstorywhich is well
relatedto its religiousand politicalsettingboth in this countryand abroad.The
illustrationsare magnificent.
Musicin ElizabethanEnglandby DorothyE. Masonmakesa pleasantlittle
journeyinto a verylargesubject.The style is so fluentthat one is hardlyaware
of the great amountof informationgiven. Religiousand secularmusic, musi-
cians, their song-books,and instrumentsare most expertlytreated.Some de-
scriptionof music in the theatre and for entertainmentsbefore the Queen
roundsoff this excellentaccount.
English Dress in the Age of Shakespeareby VirginiaA. La Mar is a most
lucid and informativedescription,in brief,of a complexsubject.Detail is given
of hats,gloves,neckware,decorationand even hairstyles,and muchis saidabout
particulargarmentsand the changing fashionsin an increasinglyprosperous
age. The differenthabitsof rich and poor, countryfolk and townspeopleare
considered.The illustrationsare particularlygood.
Apartfrom theirmost scholarlyand readablequality,I shouldsay that the
chief value of thesebookletsis that whereaseach is complete,it is at the same
time complementaryto the others.They are like chaptersin one large book.I
hope thereis a possibilitythat, in the future,they may be offeredundera gen-
eraltitlepagein this way.
ShakespeareMemorialLibrary, WAVENEYR. N. PAYNE
Birmingham

Othello(New Arden). Edited by M. R. RIDLEY. Harvard University Press, I958. Pp. lxx
+ 246. $3.85.
The spirit in which M. R. Ridley has edited Othello for the New Arden
Shakespeareis to be admired, even if his choice of the Quarto as the substantive

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