A SCARCE SHAKESPEARE SOURCEBOOK: JUSTINUS’ HISTORIE, 1606 EDITION IN ENGLISH, TRANSLATED BY THE CO-AUTHOR OF SHAKESPEARE'S PERICLES

(SHAKESPEARE) [TROGUS, Pompeius] JUSTINUS, Marcus Junianus. (WILKINS, George, translator). The Historie of Justine. Containing a Narration of Kingdoms, from the Beginning of the Assyrian Monarchy, unto the Raigne of the Emperour Augustus. Whereunto is Newly Added a Briefe Collection of the Lives and Manners of All the Emperours Succeeding, unto the Emp. Rodulphus now Raigning. London: William Iaggard, 1606. Small folio (7 by 10-1/2 inches), contemporary full calf rebacked, raised bands, maroon morocco spine label; ff. [8], 138, [40]. $8500.

First edition of this early appearance in English of Justinus' history, the widely read abridgment of Pompeius Trogus’ Historiae Philippicae, alluded to by Shakespeare at least ten times in his plays, illustrated with woodcut portraits of Solon and 13 Roman emperors.

Justinus' work is an abridgment of the monumental Historiae Philippicae by Roman historian Pompeius Trogus, "a history of the world down to the Roman conquest of the East" (Peck) that became a critical source for the history of Macedonia and the Hellenistic kingdoms. First translated into English by Arthur Golding in 1564, it stood as the primary source from which Elizabethans drew their knowledge of classical history. Golding's translation is typically cited as Shakespeare's source, but it is curious that the translator of this 1606 edition, George Wilkins, was an associate of Shakespeare, a fellow member of the King's Company of Actors, and the co-author of Shakespeare's late drama Pericles, Prince of Tyre. The unscrupulous Wilkins—a notorious character whose legal record strongly implies he was a brothel-owner as well as a writer—actually "extensively plagiarized" Golding's translation for his own version, so the two texts are perforce very similar. Wilkins' "chief claim to modern fame rests on his association with Shakespeare's Pericles. Scholarship has confirmed Wilkins' authorship of the first nine scenes of the play, and has constructed a plausible narrative from initial collaboration to its first publication in 1609" (ODNB). There is little doubt that William Shakespeare was well-acquainted with the book: "Altogether, there are ten or more clear-cut allusions to memorable characterizations and passages… In addition, Shakespeare seems to have drawn heavily upon the book in naming many of his dramatic personages" (Charles Barrell). Direct parallels can be found in Henry V, Henry VI, Titus Andronicus, Taming of the Shrew, and The Winter's Tale. With woodcut initials, head- and tailpieces. Preliminary and final blank leaves not present. STC 24293. Endpapers with penciled annotations and small affixed early cataloguing slip. Penciled owners' names, one dated 1893; a few early inked marginal notes.

Minor spotting and occasional stray early ink marks; two leaves with small burn holes in lower inner margins, not touching text; light innoffensive dampstaining to last half dozen leaves. Contemporary calf boards with some early restoration.