P. 73. Macaulay.—Pyrgopolynices (Plautus: Miles Gloriosus); Thraso (Terence: Eunuch); Bobadil (Ben Jonson: Every Man in his Humour); Bessus (Beaumont and Fletcher: A King and no King); Pistol (The Merry Wives of Windsor); Parolles (All's Well that Ends Well); Nephelococcygia (Aristophanes: The Birds—the cuckoos' town in the clouds); Lilliput (Swift: Gulliver's Travels—the pygmies' country).
P. 77. Ascham.—Thomas Blundeville wrote some lines in praise of Roger Ascham's Latin grammar:—
Of English books as I could find,
I have perused many a one:
Yet so well done unto my mind,
As this is, yet have I found none.
The words of matter here do rise,
So fitly and so naturally,
As heart can wish or wit devise,
In my conceit and fantasy.
The words well chosen and well set,
Do bring such light unto the sense:
As if I lacked I would not let
To buy this book for forty pence.
This was published in 1561.
P. 78. Wither.—Bevis of Hampton, a hero of early mediaeval romance. The story has been published by the Early English Text Society.
Compare 'The common rabble of scribblers and blur-papers which nowadays stuff stationers' shops.'—Montaigne.
P. 79. Fuller.—The other portion of this essay will be found on page [57]. Arius Montanus was the court chaplain of Philip II of Spain, and he personally superintended the printing of the Biblia Polyglotta (8 vols., 1569-73), the most famous of the books printed by Christophe Plantin. The printing office is one of the sights of Antwerp, whose council bought the property from Plantin's descendants in 1876 for £48,000.
Compare also: 'Evil books corrupt at once both our manners and our taste.'—Fielding.