tant like himself, but with better
prospects. Blount had already achieved a modest success in the same
capacity of procurer or picker-up of neglected 'copy.' {393e} In 1598 he
became proprietor of Marlowe's unfinished and unpublished 'Hero and
Leander,' and found among better-equipped friends in the trade both a
printer and a publisher for his treasure-trove. Blount good-naturedly
interested himself in Thorpe's 'find,' and it was through Blount's good
offices that Peter Short undertook to print Thorpe's manuscript of
Marlowe's 'Lucan,' and Walter Burre agreed to sell it at his shop in St.
Paul's Churchyard. As owner of the manuscript Thorpe exerted the right
of choosing a patron for the venture and of supplying the dedicatory
epistle. The patron of his choice was his friend Blount, and he made the
dedication the vehicle of his gratitude for the assistance he had just
received. The style of the dedication was somewhat bombastic, but Thorpe
showed a literary sense when he designated Marlowe 'that pure elemental
wit,' and a good deal of dry humour in offering to 'his kind and true
friend' Blount 'some few instructions' whereby he might accommodate
himself to the unaccustomed _role_ of patron. {394a} For the
conventional type of patron Thorpe disavowed respect. He preferred to
place himself under the protection of a friend in the trade whose
goodwill had already stood him in good stead, and was capable of
benefiting him hereafter.

This venture laid the foundation of Thorpe's fortunes. Three years later
he was able to place his own name on the title-page of two humbler
literary prizes--each an insignificant pamphlet on current events. {394b}
Thenceforth for a dozen years his name reappeared annually on one, two,
or three volumes. After 1614 his operations were few and far between,
and they ceased altogether in 1624. He seems to have ended his days in
poverty, and has been identified with the Thomas Thorpe who was granted
an alms-room in the hospital of Ewelme, Oxfordshire, on December 3, 1635.
{395a}

Character of his business.

Thorpe was associated with the publication of twenty-nine volumes in all,
{395b} including Marlowe's 'Lucan;' but in almost all his operations his
personal energies were confined, as in his initial enterprise, to
procuring the manuscript. For a short period in 1608 he occupied a shop,
The Tiger's Head, in St. Paul's Churchyard, and the fact was duly
announced on the title-pages of