MS 436, cent i. 57, dedication page and page 2
By permission of the Earl of Leicester and the Trustees of the Holkham Estate.
Terms of use
Holkham Hall has graciously contributed the above images from their collections to Shakespeare Documented, and retains sole ownership of said images. Visitors may link to and cite the images within Shakespeare Documented in personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact Holkham Hall Library to request additional use, at: library@holkham.co.uk.
Document-specific information
Creator: Thomas Porter
Date: ca. 1614
Repository: Holkham Hall, Wells-next-the-Sea, UK
Call number and opening: MS 436, cent i. 57; dedication page, and pages 2 & 13
MS 436, cent i. 57, page 13
By permission of the Earl of Leicester and the Trustees of the Holkham Estate.
Terms of use
Holkham Hall has graciously contributed the above images from their collections to Shakespeare Documented, and retains sole ownership of said images. Visitors may link to and cite the images within Shakespeare Documented in personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact Holkham Hall Library to request additional use, at: library@holkham.co.uk.
Document-specific information
Creator: Thomas Porter
Date: ca. 1614
Repository: Holkham Hall, Wells-next-the-Sea, UK
Call number and opening: MS 436, cent i. 57; dedication page, and pages 2 & 13
By permission of the Earl of Leicester and the Trustees of the Holkham Estate.
Terms of use
Holkham Hall has graciously contributed the above images from their collections to Shakespeare Documented, and retains sole ownership of said images. Visitors may link to and cite the images within Shakespeare Documented in personal research only. Any further use, including, but not limited to, unauthorized downloading or distribution of the images is strictly prohibited. Visitors must contact Holkham Hall Library to request additional use, at: library@holkham.co.uk.
Document-specific information
Creator: Thomas Porter
Date: ca. 1614
Repository: Holkham Hall, Wells-next-the-Sea, UK
Call number and opening: MS 436, cent i. 57; dedication page, and pages 2 & 13
Folger Shakespeare Library staff, "Manuscript book of Latin epigrams, including one on Shakespeare," Shakespeare Documented, https://doi.org/10.37078/608.
Holkham Estate, MS 436, cent i. 57. See Shakespeare Documented, https://doi.org/10.37078/608.
Epigram 57 in Thomas Porter's collection of epigrams honors the delightful poet (poetam lepidum) William Shakespeare:
Quot lepŏres in Atho tot habet tua Musa lepôres
Ingenii vena diuite metra tua
The epigram appears after epigrams in praise of Ben Jonson and Thomas Holland.
Thomas Porter dedicates the collection to John Heveningham (1577-1633), sheriff of Norfolk, in 1615. At the time, Porter was rector of the parish church in Thursford, Norfolk. In his dedication, he says the epigrams were written while he was a student at Cambridge. Porter matriculated at King's College, Cambridge in 1594, received his BA in 1598-99, his MA in 1602, and his Bachelor of Divinity in 1609.
To William Shakespeare, pleasing Poet
As numerous as the hares [are] on Athos, so numerous are the charms of your muse
Your measures [come] from a rich vein of genius
Gul: Shakespeare. Pöetam lepidum.
Quot lepŏres in Atho tot habet tua Musa lepôres
Ingenii vena diuite metra tua
Written by Folger Shakespeare Library staff
Sources
E. K. Chambers. William Shakespeare: A Study of Facts and Problems (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1930): 2:22.
F.J. Furnivall, C.M. Ingleby, and L. Toulmin Smith, comps. The Shakspere Allusion-Book: a Collection of Allusions to Shakspere from 1591 to 1700. Edited by John Munro. (London: Oxford University Press, 1932): 1:252.
D. W. Hayton, "Heveningham, Henry (1651-1700), of Heveningham, Suff." The History of Parliament: The House of Commons 1690-1715, <http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1690-1715/member/heveningham-henry-1651-1700>
John Venn, and J.A. Venn, comps. Alumni Cantabrigienses: A Biographical List of All Known Students, Graduates and Holders of Office at the University of Cambridge, From the Earliest Times to 1900 (Cambridge: University Press, 1922-1954).
Last updated January 25, 2020
