Eurialus and Lucretia

William Shakespeare (attrib.) (1613?)

Historical Records

Stationers' Register

4 August 1626 (S.R. 4.164-65, CLIO)

Edward Brewster Robert Birde.

Assigned ouer vnto them by Mistris Pavier and Consent of a full Court of Assistantes all the estate right title and Interest which Master Thomas Pavier her late husband had in the Copies here after mencioned . . . . . . . . xxviijs./ vizt ... The history of HENRY the FIFT and the play of the same ... Master Paviers right in SHAKESPERES plaies or any of them ... Sir JOHN OLD CASTLE a play ... TYTUS and ANDRONICUS ... Historye of HAMBLETT EURIOLUS and LUCRETIA

8 November 1630 (S.R. 4.208, CLIO)

Richard Cotes. Assigned ouer vnto him by master Bird and Consent of a full Court holden this day All his estate right and interest in the Copies hereafter menconed . . . . . . iiij^s.

HENRYE the FIFT

Sir JOHN OLDCASTLE

TITUS and ANDRONICUS

EUREOLUS and LUCRETIA

YORKE and LANCASTER

Agincourt

PERSILES

HAMBLET.

Yorkeshire Tragedie

21 August 1683 (S.R.2, 3.181-89, CLIO)

Master Robt Scott. Entred then for his Bookes or Coppyes by vertue of an assignmt under the hand and seale of M^RS SARAH MARTIN, relict and executrix of the last will and testam^t of John Martin late Cittizen and Stationer of London, deceased, her late husband, bearing date the fourteenth day of June Anno Dom 1681, and by order of Court of the seaventh of Novem^r, 1681, these severall bookes or coppyes or parts of bookes or coppyes hereafter menconed wch did formerly belong to the said John Martin decd. Salvo jure cujuscunque, viz:

...

Shakespeare.

Henry the 5^th

S^r John Old Castle

Titus Androneus

Eurialus & Lucretia

Yorke and Lancaster

Agincourt

Pericles

Hamlett

Yorkesheire Tragedy

The Tempest

Gentlemen of Verona

Measure for measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ½.

Commedie of errors

As you like it

Alls well that ends well

Twelve nights

Winter's tale

The 3^d part of Hen 6^th

Hen: 8^th

Coriolanus

Timon of Athens

Julius Caesar

Mackbeth

Anthony and Cleopatra

Cymbelyne

Theatrical Provenance

If this was a play, its provenance is unknown; presumably it would have been performed by the Lord Chamberlain's / King's men.

Probable Genre(s)

Romance.

Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues

The Lucretia of the title is not that of Shakespeare's Rape of Lucrece (though such confusion over her identity may explain the attribution of this title to Shakespeare). Rather, she is one half of a Sienese couple, whose story originates in De duobus amantibus by Aeneas Sylvius (later Pope Pius II), written in c.1440.

English translations include:

The m[ost] excell[ent] historie, of Euryalus and Lucresia. Trans. William Braunche. London: Printed by Thomas Creede, and are to be solde by William Barley, at his shop in Gratious streete; neare Leaden Hall, 1596.

(If Shakespeare had written a play on this topic, this may have been the most convenient source text to consult for inspiration.)

The historie of Eurialus and Lucretia. Written in Latine by Eneas Sylvius; and translated into English by Charles Allen, Gent. Printed at London: By Tho. Cotes, for William Cooke, and are to be sold at his shop neere Furnivalls Inne Gate in Holborne, 1639. STC (2nd ed.) / 19973.

Neither of these might be mistaken for a play by a stationer, however, as both are in prose and do not resemble drama in any way.

However, there is a unique extant copy of the story in verse, held at the National Trust Library at Deene Park (ESTC), which may be the "boke intituled of ij lovers EURYALUS and LUCRESSIE plesaunte and Dilectable" entered by William Norton in 1569-70 (SR 1.189 CLIO).

References to the Play

None known; information welcome.

Critical Commentary

Harbage and Schoenbaum gave little credence to the SR entries, noting “Euriolus (i.e. Euryalus) and Lucretia, sometimes incorrectly listed as a play.” (Index, 248).

Greg (BEPD, Θ36) notes that although "[t]his was clearly assumed to be a play when it was included among Shakespearian titles in later transfers", there is no suggestion of Shakespearean authorship or dramatic form in the assignment of 1626, "though this does include a few dramatic copies together with 'Mr. Paviers right in Shakesperes plaies or any of them'." He further observes that "[i]t is not in the list of 'thinges formerlye printed and sett over to the sayd Thomas Pavyer' on 14 Aug. 1600, which supplied a number of the copies transferred in 1626, and how he acquired his interest in it is not known." Greg lists a number of English translations of the Eurialus and Lucretia story, including one "entered by William Norton in 1569-70" (entered suggests Greg was aware of the SR entry but not of the survival of the unique copy at Deene Park; see Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues above). He tentatively suggests that it may have been Thomas Creede's edition of 1596 "that somehow came into Pavier's hands", but it is difficult to see how that text might be mistaken for a play (again, see Possible Narrative and Dramatic Sources or Analogues above).

For What It's Worth

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Works Cited

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