tters of the day. 'The Muses
would speak Shakespeare's fine filed phrase,' Meres asserted, 'if they
could speak English.' 'Among the English,' he declared, 'he was the most
excellent in both kinds for the stage' (_i.e._ tragedy and comedy). The
titles of six comedies ('Two Gentlemen of Verona, 'Errors,' 'Love's
Labour's Lost,' 'Love's Labour's Won,' 'Midsummer Night's Dream,' and
'Merchant of Venice') and of six tragedies ('Richard II,' 'Richard III,'
'Henry IV,' 'King John,' 'Titus,' and 'Romeo and Juliet') were set forth,
and mention followed of his 'Venus and Adonis,' his 'Lucrece,' and his
'sugred {179} sonnets among his private friends.' These were cited as
proof 'that the sweet witty soul of Ovid lives in mellifluous and
honey-tongued Shakespeare.' In the same year a rival poet, Richard
Barnfield, in 'Poems in divers Humors,' predicted immortality for
Shakespeare with no less confidence.

And Shakespeare, thou whose honey-flowing vein
(Pleasing the world) thy Praises doth obtain,
Whose _Venus_ and whose _Lucrece_ (sweet and chaste)
Thy name in Fame's immortal Book have placed,
Live ever you, at least in fame live ever:
Well may the Body die, but Fame dies never.

Value of his name to publishers.

Shakespeare's name was thenceforth of value to unprincipled publishers,
and they sought to palm off on their customers as his work the
productions of inferior pens. As early as 1595, Thomas Creede, the
surreptitious printer of 'Henry V' and the 'Merry Wives,' had issued the
crude 'Tragedie of Locrine, as 'newly set foorth, overseene and
corrected. By W. S.' It appropriated many passages from an older piece
called 'Selimus,' which was possibly by Greene and certainly came into
being long before Shakespeare had written a line of blank verse. The
same initials--'W.S.' {180}--figured on the title-page of 'The True
Chronicle Historie of Thomas, Lord Cromwell,' which was licensed on
August 11, 1602, was printed for William Jones in that year, and was
reprinted verbatim by Thomas Snodham in 1613. On the title-page of the
comedy entitled 'The Puritaine, or the Widdow of Watling Streete,' which
George Eld printed in 1607, 'W.S.' was again stated to be the author.
Shakespeare's full name appeared on the title-pages of 'The Life of
Old-castle' in 1600 (printed for T[homas] P[avier]), of 'The London
Prodigall' in 1605 (printed by T. C. for Nathaniel Butter), and of 'The
Yorkshire Tragedy' i