And Maſſinger in other few; the Main
Being ſole Iſſues of ſweet Fletchers brain.
But how come I (you ask) ſo much to know?
Fletchers chief boſome-friend inform'd me ſo.
. . .. . . . . .. . . . . .
For Beaumont's works, & Fletchers ſhould come forth
With all the right belonging to their worth."
Moseley, in his address as stationer, says of the portrait of Fletcher by William Marshall, which bears the inscriptions, "Poetarum Ingeniosissimus Ioannes Fletcherus Anglus Episcopi Lond: Fili." "Obijt 1625 Ætat 49": "This figure of Mr. Fletcher was cut by ſeveral Originall Pieces, which his friends lent me; but withall they tell me, that his unimitable Soule did ſhine through his countenance in ſuch Ayre and Spirit, that the Painters confeſſed it, was not eaſie to expreſſe him." The nine lines of verse beneath the portrait are by Sir John Birkenhead. The portrait is found in two states, distinguishable by the size of the letters in Birkenhead's name. Although he was very ambitious to get a portrait of Master Beaumont, his search proved unavailing.
There are a few woodcut head-bands, varied with others made of type metal, in the front part of the book, but the last part is severely plain.
Folio. The first collected edition.