Ai 
 Ai 
 
 o: 
 
 0: 
 1 ; 
 
 41 
 
 2i 
 
 5 1 
 1 I 
 9! 
 3[ 
 
 SPINGARh: 
 The Sources of Jonson's "Discoveries"
 
 Reprinted fru:'\ Modern Philology, Vol. II, No. 4, April, 1905 
 
 THE SOURCES OF JONSON'S ** DISCOVERIES'' 
 
 J. E. SPINGARN 
 
 PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS
 
 Ts^6 ex - 
 
 Modern Philology '^-'^ 
 
 Vol. II. ^/)r/7, /^t^^. No. 4. 
 
 THE SOURCES OF JONSON'S "DISCOVERIES." 
 
 The final pages of Ben Jonson's Timber, or Discoveries, which 
 appeared posthumously in 1641, are devoted to a discussion of 
 the nature of poetry and the drama. In the annotated edition of 
 Professor Schelling these pages are about fifteen in number; and 
 in this brief paper I desire to call attention to their sources. 
 
 I. Daniel Heinsius, the distinguished Dutch scholar, published 
 his treatise, De tragoedicB constitutione, at Leyden in 1611, and 
 it was immediately accepted by critics and playwrights as a work 
 of the highest authority; Chapelain called it "the quintessence of 
 Aristotle's Poetics,^'' and it was cited by Corneille and annotated 
 by Racine. The whole of Jonson's final essay, "Of the Magni- 
 tude and Compass of Any Fable, Epic or Dramatic" (ed. Schell- 
 ing, pp. 83-87), is a literal translation of the fourth chapter of 
 Heinsius's treatise. Two other important passages (pp. 78-79, 
 79-80) are also taken bodily from the same source. I have set 
 the texts side by side, and no further introduction is necessary. 
 To another treatise of Heinsius, Ad Horatii de Plaido et Teren- 
 tio judicium dissertatio,^ Jonson was indebted in his discussion 
 
 1 This appeared as one of the notes at the end of Heinsius's edition of Horace (Leyden, 
 1612, notes, pp. 78-99), and was republished as a separate dissertation in his edition of 
 Terence in 1635. It has been reprinted many times, and is readily accessible in Zeune's 
 edition of Terence (London, 1820; cf. Vol. I, pp. xxxviii tf., Iviii) or in that of Giles (Lon- 
 don, 1837; cf. pp. XXV ff., xxxix). The marginal note in the original folio edition of the 
 Discoveries (1641, p. 129: ^'Heins: de Sat : .... Pug: incomm. loSdtseq.") evidently refers to 
 this obligation, but the pagination, if correct, is that of some edition which I have been 
 unable to find. Professor Schelling, who seems to have had the same difficulty, refers his 
 readers to Heinsius's Horace, 1612, notes, p. 61 ; if he had turned to p. 78 of that very edition, 
 he would have discovered the actual source of Jonson's indebtedness. Over nine pages in 
 all are due to these two treatises of Heinsius. 
 
 451] 1 [Modern Philology, .\pril, 1905
 
 2 J. E. Spingarn 
 
 of the ludicrous (Discoveries, p. 81, 1. 6-p. 83, 1. 13; also p. 80, 
 11. 26 ff.); but these passages it does not seem necessary to cite. 
 
 II. The Bohemian Jesuit, Jacobus Pontanus, published a 
 treatise on poetry, Poeticarum institutionum libri tres, at Ingol- 
 stadt, in 1594. This work was received with considerable favor, 
 and was reprinted at least twice before the close of the century. 
 Soon after, Joannes Buchler, of Gladbach, made an abstract of 
 Pontanus' s treatise, under the title of Reformata poeseos institu- 
 tion ex B. P. Jacohi Pontani libris co7ici?inata, and appended it 
 to his poetical dictionary, Sacrarum profanarumque phrasium 
 poeticarum thesaurus. The combined work was reprinted many 
 times, and at least five editions were published at London during 
 the course of the seventeenth century. From Buchler's abridg- 
 ment of Pontanus Jonson has borrowed several important pas- 
 sao-es, but his debt here is more casual and intermittent than in 
 the case of Heinsius. I cite one example, though I cannot con- 
 sider it as having any special significance.^ I have used the 
 eleventh edition of Buchler, which was printed at London in 
 1632, five years before Jonson's death. 
 
 Jonson's Timber, or Discoveries. Heinsids's De tragoediae constitu- 
 (Ed. Schelling, Boston, 1892, tione. 
 
 p. 78.) (Leydeu, 1643, pp. 3, 4.) 
 
 Aristotle was the first accurate Primus Aristoteles, & quod Cri- 
 critie and truest judge, nay, the tici est accurati, vitia notauit : & 
 greatest philosopher the world ever quod veri est philosophi, 6 virtuti- 
 had ; for he noted the vices of all bus multonim, vnam fecit artem : 
 knowledges in all creatures, and simulque vtrunque docuit; tum de 
 out of many men's perfections in a aliis quid statuendum, tum in nos- 
 science he formed still one art. So tris, quid sequendum esset. Frus- 
 he taught us two offices together, tra tamen, ni ingenium accedat. 
 how we ought to judge rightly of sed poeticum in primis. Neque 
 others, and what we ought to imi- enim qui hsec sciet, ideo Tragoe- 
 tate specially in ourselves ; but all diam conscribet : sed si aptus h 
 this in vain without a natural wit natm-a ac ingenio accedat, ideo 
 and a poetical nature in chief. For perfectam scribet lam pru- 
 ne man, so soon as he knows this dentia civilis, ubi magis requiritur? 
 or reads it, shall be able to write nou iu seutentiis & gnomis modo : 
 
 1 For other passages in which Jonson appears to have borrowed from Buchler, cf. 
 Jonson, p. 76, and Buculee, pp. 418, 427; Jonson, p. 77, and Buchlee, p. 421. 
 
 452
 
 The Sources of Jonson's "Discoveries" 
 
 the better; but as he is adopted by 
 nature, he shall grow the perfecter 
 writer. He must have civil pru- 
 dence and eloquence, and that 
 whole, not taken up by snatches or 
 pieces in sentences or remnants 
 when he will handle business or 
 carry counsels, as if he came then 
 out of the declaimer's gallery or 
 shadow furnished but out of the 
 body of the state, which commonly 
 is the school of men : Virorum 
 schola respub[lica]. 
 
 sed, quod felicissinie h te praesti- 
 tium meminimus non semel, cum 
 consilia tractantur. non ex vmbra 
 enim ad hsec accedelxis : sed cum 
 in Repub. versatus esses, quae 
 magnatum schola est. 
 
 JoNSON, pp. 79, 80. 
 I am not of that opinion to con- 
 clude a poet's liberty within the 
 narrow limits of laws which either 
 the grammarians or philosophers 
 prescribe. For before they found 
 out those laws there were many 
 excellent poets that fulfilled them, 
 amongst whom none more perfect 
 than Sophocles, who lived a little 
 before Aristotle. Which of the 
 Greeklings durst ever give precepts 
 to Demosthenes? or to Pericles, 
 whom the age sm-named Heavenly, 
 because he seemed to thunder and 
 lighten with his language? or to 
 Alcibiades, who had rather Natiu-e 
 for his guide than Art for his mas- 
 ter? But whatsoever nature at any 
 time dictated to the most happy, or 
 long exercise to the most laborious, 
 that the wisdom and learning of 
 Aristotle hath brought into an art 
 because he understood the causes 
 of things; and what other men did 
 by chance or custom he doth by 
 reason; and not only found out the 
 way not to eiT, but the short way 
 we should take not to err. Many 
 
 Heinsids, pp. 2, 3. 
 Neque in ea sum opinione, vt 
 ad eas, quas grammatici praescri- 
 bunt, aut philosophi angustias, po- 
 etae libertatem esse revocandam 
 arbitrer. cum praesertim ante obser- 
 uationes has summi in Tragoedia 
 extiterint poetae. nemo enim postea 
 ad majestatem Sophocleam, meo 
 quidem animo, accessit. quem non 
 paucis annis ante Aristotelem, Phi- 
 losophoiTim Regem fato suo func- 
 tum satis constat. Verum idem 
 aliis in artibus quoque vsu venit. 
 Nam quis Graeculorum vnquam qui 
 dicendi traderent praecepta, ad di- 
 mnam & fatalem vim Demosthenis 
 accissit, qui plerisque multo est 
 antiquior? Nee Pericles ante eum, 
 quem Olympium dixere, quod to- 
 nare ac fulgm-are videretur, neque 
 Alcibiades, ac alii, quos ante hos 
 fuisse in Republica disertos fama 
 tenet, praeceptorem potius quem 
 sequerentiir, quam naturam ducem 
 habuerunt. Sed qua^cumque aut 
 felicibus natiu-a dictat, aut exerci- 
 tatio prolixa dat laboriosis, quod 
 Latini nescio an satis recte habi- 
 
 153
 
 J. E. Spingakn 
 
 things in Euripides hath Aris- 
 tophanes wittily reprehended, not 
 out of art, but out of truth. For 
 Euripides is sometimes peccant, as 
 he is most times perfect. But 
 judgment when it is greatest, if 
 reason doth not accompany 'it, is 
 not ever absolute. 
 
 turn dixerint, in artem redigit vir 
 sapiens & eruditus. Ita fit, vt & 
 causas intelligat, & quae forte alii 
 eflficiunt aut vsu, ex ratione agat : 
 neque viam tantum ne aberret, sed 
 & habeat compendium qua eat. 
 Multa in Euripide facete Aristo- 
 phanes notauit ; neque ex arte sed 
 e vero tamen. Seepe Euripides, 
 alibi quae peccat, alibi plenissime & 
 accurate praestat. judicium enim, 
 etiam cum summum est, nisi ratio 
 accedat, non est absolutum. 
 
 JoNSON, pp, 83-87. 
 
 Of the magnitude and compass 
 of any fable, epic or dramatic. 
 
 If a "man would build a house, he 
 would first appoint a place to build 
 it in, which he would define within 
 certain bounds. So in the constitu- 
 tion of a poem, the action is aimed 
 at by the poet, which answers place 
 in a buildmg, and that action hath 
 his largeness, compass, and pro- 
 portion. But as a court or king's 
 palace requires other dimensions 
 than a private house, so the epic 
 asks a magnitude from other poems, 
 since what is place in the one is 
 action in the other ; the difference 
 is in space. So that by this defini- 
 tion we conclude the fable to be 
 the imitation of one perfect and 
 entire action, as one perfect and 
 entire place is required to a build- 
 ing. By perfect, we vmderstand 
 that to which nothing is wanting, 
 as place to the building that is 
 
 Heinsius, pp. 28-38. 
 Cap. IV. 
 
 Ambitus Tragoedice&magnitudo. 
 Actio quce tota & perfecta. Quce 
 sit Vna Actio, quot item modis 
 dicatur Vnam. Quo modo in 
 Tragoedia Vna requiratur Actio. 
 
 Quemadmodum de aedificio qui 
 cogitat, primo ei locum designare 
 solet; quem mox certa magnitudine 
 ac arabitu definit: ita in Tragoediae, 
 de qua nunc agimus, constitutione, 
 a Philosopho est factum. Id in 
 quo versatur Tragoedia, est actio. 
 Sicut autem aedificio locus, sic Tra- 
 goediae accommodatur actio, magni- 
 tudine, ambitu, proportione. Igitur 
 vt aliam requirit magnitudinem vel 
 regia vel aula, quam priuata domus : 
 ita aliam Tragoedia requirit actio- 
 nem quam Epos. Nam cum vtrius- 
 que sit actio, sicut ibi vtriusque est 
 locus; spatio vtrobique multum dif- 
 ferunt ; hie actio, ibi locus. Jam 
 vero, turn perfectae tum totius ac- 
 tionis imitationem esseTragoediam, 
 in definitione audiuimus: ita vt per- 
 fectus ac totus ad a'dificium requi- 
 ritur locus. Perfectum autem id 
 
 454
 
 The Soueces of Jonson's "Discoveries" 
 
 raised, and actiou to the fable that 
 is formed. It is perfect, perhaps 
 not for a coiu't or king's palace, 
 which requires a greater ground, 
 but for the structure we would 
 raise ; so the space of the action 
 may not prove large enough for the 
 epic fable, yet be perfect for the 
 dramatic, and whole. 
 
 What we understand by ichole} 
 — Whole we call that, and perfect, 
 which hath a beginning, a midst, 
 and an end. So the place of any 
 building may be whole and entire 
 for that work, though too little for 
 a palace. As to a tragedy or a 
 comedy, the action may be con- 
 venient and perfect that would not 
 fit an epic poem in magnitude. So 
 a lion is a perfect creature in him- 
 self, though it be less than that of 
 a buffalo or rhinocerote. They dif- 
 fer but in specie : either in the 
 kind is absolute; both have their 
 parts, and either the whole. There- 
 fore, as in every body, so in every 
 action which is the subject of a just 
 work, there is required a certain 
 proportionable greatness, neither 
 too vast nor too minute. For that 
 which happens to the eyes when 
 we behold a body, the same hap- 
 pens to the memory when we con- 
 template an action. I look upon a 
 monstrous giant, as Tityiis, whose 
 body covered nine acres of land, 
 and mine eye sticks upon every 
 part ; the whole that consists of 
 those parts will never be taken in 
 at one entire view. So in a fable, 
 if the action be too great, we can 
 never comprehend the whole to- 
 
 est, cui nihil deest. in loco quidem 
 jfidificii respectu, quod constioiitur: 
 in Tragoedia autem actionis, quaj 
 formatur. vt perfectus autem, non 
 pro regia aut aula, qua3 majorem 
 postulat, sed pro tedificio ipso, aedi- 
 ficii est locus : ita spatium actionis, 
 non pro Epico opere immensum, 
 sed pro Dramate ipso requiratur 
 perfectum. id autem minus est. 
 Jam vero totum est, quod princi- 
 pium, medium habet, & finem. Ita 
 sedificii locus est totus, quamuis 
 minor sit quam aulw : vt & Tragce- 
 diae actionem esse totam oportet, 
 licet minor quam Epici. Sic per- 
 fectum animal est leo,quamuis mul- 
 tum cedat elephanto. Totum est 
 leonis caput, licet minus sit quam 
 vii aut tauri. Alteri enim differunt 
 specie, & in sua absolutus est vter- 
 que: alterum partes habet suas, 
 ideoque est totum. Sicut ergo 
 omni in corpore, ita & in actione 
 qualibet,qua3 sit justi poematis sub- 
 jectum,certa magnitudine est opus; 
 qu9B nee vasta nee exigua sit nimis. 
 Quippe id quod euenire oculis solet, 
 coi-pus cum videmus, idem euenit 
 memorite, cum actionem contem- 
 plamur. vastum enim corpus qui 
 videt, dum in partibus quibusque 
 hgeret, totum illud vnicumque quod 
 h partibus his ipsis constat, sequi 
 intuitu non potest. In poemate, si 
 magna nimium est actio, nemo to- 
 tam simul cogitatione complectetur. 
 contra si exile nimium est corpus, 
 nulla ex intuitu illius oritur volup- 
 tas. Nulla enim datur contem- 
 plauti mora, quia simul sit intuitus 
 & euanescit. Sicut qui formicam 
 
 iThis and the following marginal headings of the original folio correspond more or 
 less to Heinsius's chapter headings. 
 
 455
 
 6 
 
 J. E. Spingaen 
 
 gether in our imagination. Again, 
 if it be too little, there ariseth no 
 pleasure out of the object ; it 
 affords the view no stay ; it is be- 
 held, and vanisheth at once. As if 
 we should look upon an ant or pis- 
 mire, the parts fly the sight, and 
 the whole considered is almost 
 nothing. ' The same happens in 
 action, which is the object of mem- 
 ory, as the body is of sight. Too 
 vast oppresseth the eyes, and ex- 
 ceeds the memory; too little scarce 
 admits either. 
 
 What the utmost bound of a 
 fable. — Now in every action it 
 behoves the poet to know which is 
 his utmost bound, how far with fit- 
 ness and a necessary proportion he 
 may produce and determine it; that 
 is, till either good fortune change 
 into worse, or the worse into the 
 better. For as a body without pro- 
 portion cannot be goodly, no more 
 can the action, either in comedy or 
 tragedy, without his fit bounds. 
 And every bound, for the nature of 
 the subject, is esteemed the best 
 that is largest, till it can increase 
 no more, so it behoves the action 
 in tragedy or comedy to be let 
 grow till the necessity ask a con- 
 clusion ; whei'ein two things are to 
 be considered : first, that it exceed 
 not the compass of one day ; next, 
 that there be place left for digres- 
 sion and art. For the episodes and 
 digressions in a fable are the same 
 that household stuff and other 
 furniture are in a house. And so 
 far form the measure and extent of 
 a fable dramatic. 
 
 What [is meanf] by one and 
 entire.— Now that it should be one 
 
 456 
 
 videt. nam cum partes fugiant con- 
 spectum, totum quoque prope est 
 nullum. Idem sit in actione. Sicut 
 enim ibi corpus oculorum, ita hie 
 memorise objectum est actio, adde 
 quod vt magna nimium, conspec- 
 tum, ita & memoriam excedant : 
 
 parua vix admittant [Here 
 
 Jonson skijjs from the top of page 
 31 to the bottom of page 32.] .... 
 Primo enim crescere eo vsque recte 
 ac produci posse, putat, donee pro 
 earum quae aguntur rerum ordine, 
 vel necessario vel commode muta- 
 tio infertur. qui supremus hie est 
 terminus : cum videlicet aut pros- 
 pera in aduersam, aut aduersa in 
 secundam mutatm* fortuna. Sicut 
 ergo corpus, sine magnitudine pul- 
 chrum esse non potest, ita neque 
 actio Tragoediae. Et vt omnis qui 
 pro rei natura est terminus, is ha- 
 betur praestantissimus qui est maxi- 
 mus, donee crescere amplius non 
 potest : ita ipsam crescere hactenus 
 Tragcediae oportet actionem, donee 
 necessario sit terminanda. In quo 
 duo sunt tenenda. Primo vt vnius 
 non excedat Solis ambitum. Se- 
 cundo, vt digressioni locus relin- 
 quatur & arti. Quippe quod in 
 domo est supellex caeteraque orna- 
 menta, hoc in Tragoedia digressio- 
 nes sunt & Episodia. Hactenus 
 ergo, quantam esse Fabulam Tra- 
 gcediae oporteat & actionem. Viden- 
 dura & illud ; vtrum vnam. Vnum 
 duobus dicitur, vt plurimum,modis. 
 Vel quod vnicum est, separatum, 
 ac simplex, vt ante. Vel id quod 
 compositum ex pluribus, postquam 
 plura ilia jam coaluerunt, vnum 
 esse ccepit. Priori modo, vnam 
 esse oportere Fabulam, nemo eru-
 
 The Sources of Jonson's "Discoveries" 
 
 and entire. One is considerable 
 two ways ; either as it is only 
 separate, and by itself, or as being 
 composed of many parts, it begins 
 to be one as those parts grow or are 
 wrought together. That it should 
 be one the first way alone, and by 
 itself, no man that hath tasted 
 letters ever would say, especially 
 having required before a just mag- 
 nitude and equal proportion of the 
 parts in themselves. Neither of 
 which can possibly be, if the action 
 be single and separate, not com- 
 posed of parts, which laid together 
 in themselves, with an equal and 
 fitting proportion, tend to the same 
 end ; which thing out of antiquity 
 itself hath deceived many, and more 
 this day it doth deceive. So many 
 there be of old that have thought 
 the action of one man to be one, 
 as of Hercules, Theseus, Achilles, 
 Ulysses, and other heroes ; which 
 is both foolish and false, since by 
 one and the same person many 
 things may be severally done which 
 cannot fitly be referred or joined to 
 the same end : which not only the 
 excellent tragic poets, but the best 
 masters of the epic. Homer and 
 Virgil, saw. For though the argu- 
 ment of an epic poem be far more 
 diffused and poured out than that 
 of tragedy, yet Virgil, writing of 
 ^neas, hath pretermitted many 
 things. He neither tells how he 
 was born, how brought up, how he 
 fought with Achilles, how he was 
 snatched out of battle by Venus ; 
 but that one thing, how he came 
 into Italy, he prosecutes in twelve 
 books. The rest of his joui-ney, his 
 error by sea, the sack of Troy, are 
 
 457 
 
 ditus dixerit. Duo quippe in Tra- 
 gica requiri actione jam monuimus. 
 magnitudinem vt justam, ita & 
 cequalem inter sese proportionem 
 partium. quoiaun neuti-um, si sit 
 vna actio ac simplex, non compo- 
 sita ex partibus, quae turn ad eun- 
 dem tendunt finem, tum propor- 
 tione apta ac sequali inter sese 
 componuntur, posse fieri videtur. 
 quae res plurimus ex ipsa antiqui- 
 tate imposuit, etiamque hodie im- 
 ponit. Sic non pauci olim arbitrati 
 sunt, vnius actionem esse vuam. 
 Puta Herculis, Thesei, Achillis, 
 Vlyssis, & aliorum. Quod ineptum 
 est ac falsum. cum ab vno eodem- 
 que multa fieri omnino possint, 
 quae conjungi & referri ad eundem 
 finem commode non possunt. Quod 
 non modo Tragici praestantes, ve- 
 rum & poetae Epici, Homenis pari- 
 ter ac Maro, viderunt. Quanquam 
 enim longe amplius diffiusiusque 
 Epici quam Tragici sit argumen- 
 tum, tamen plurima ^ne* Maro 
 prtietermisit. Non enim, quomodo 
 sit natus ac eductus, cum Achilla 
 quomodo conflixerit, ac praelio 
 eruptus fuerit h Venere. vnum hoc, 
 quopacto in Italiam peruenerit, 
 libris duodecim, quod nemo nescit, 
 persecutus est. Reliqua quippe, 
 de itinere, vrbis expugnatione, alia- 
 que, non vt argumeutum operis, sed 
 vt argumenti Episodia ponuntur. 
 quemadmodum & Vlj'ssis plurima 
 Homerus praetermisit : nequeplura, 
 quam qua? tendere ad eundem ac 
 spectare finem videbantur, con- 
 junxit. Contra ineptissime poetae, 
 quos Philosophus recenset. quorum 
 alter omnes Thesei, alter Herculis 
 labores actionesque fuerat com-
 
 8 
 
 J. E. Spingarn 
 
 put not as the argument of the 
 work, but episodes of the argu- 
 ment. So Homer laid by many 
 things of Ulysses, and handled no 
 more than he saw tended to one 
 and the same end. Contrary to 
 which, and foolishly, those poets 
 did, whom the philosopher taxeth, 
 of whom one gathered all the ac- 
 tions of Theseus, another put all 
 the labors of Hercules in one work. 
 So did he whom Juvenal mentions 
 in the beginning, "hoarse Codrus," 
 that recited a volume compiled, 
 which he called his Theseid, not 
 yet finished, to the great trouble 
 both of his hearers and himself; 
 amongst which there were many 
 parts had no coherence nor kindred 
 one with other, so far they were 
 from being one action, one fable. 
 For as a house, consisting of divers 
 materials becomes one structure 
 and one dwelling, so an action, 
 composed of divers parts, may 
 become one fable, epic or dramatic. 
 For example, in a tragedy, look 
 upon Sophocles his Ajax: Ajax, 
 deprived of Achilles's armor, which 
 he hoped from the suffrage of the 
 Greeks, disdains, and, growing im- 
 patient of the injury, rageth, and 
 turns mad. In that humor he 
 doth many senseless things, and at 
 last falls upon the Grecian flock 
 and kills a great ram for Ulysses : 
 returning to his sense, he grows 
 ashamed of the scorn, and kills 
 himself; and is by the chiefs of the 
 Greeks forbidden burial. These 
 things agree and hang together, 
 not as they were done, but as seem- 
 ing to be done, which made the 
 action whole, entire, and absolute. 
 
 plexus. Neque aliter intelligendus 
 ille luuenalis locus est de Codro. 
 quem idcirco raucum ibi dixit, 
 quod immensum opus, in quo om- 
 nes Thesei recenserentur actiones, 
 summa cum & auditorum molestia 
 & sua, recitaret. inter quas fuisse 
 sane plurimas oportet, qua3 nil inter 
 se commune haberent. quare neque 
 vnam sine actionem sine fabulam 
 subjectum operis habebat, sed 
 vnius. Cteterum vt domus non ex 
 vno constat sed est vna : ita non 
 ex vno constat, etiam si vna, actio 
 
 Tragoedise Exempli gratia, 
 
 Sophoclis Aiacem videamus : Aiax 
 armis priuatus, indignatur, & vt 
 erat contumelise impatiens, rabit ac 
 furit. Ergo, quod pro tali est, haud 
 pauca sine mente agit, & postremo 
 pro Vlysse pecudes insanus mactat. 
 vbi autem ad se rediit, opprobrii 
 pertsesus, manus sibi infert, ac se- 
 pulchro prohibetur. quae, non autem 
 Ccetera, quaecunque toto vitae tem- 
 pore ab Ajace gesta, apte inter se 
 cohaerent. Sed nee quaelibet ex 
 illis per se sufEcit : omnes vero 
 congruentes, vnam illam statuunt 
 cujvis sunt partes. Quippe & totam 
 debere esse actionem diximus, & 
 absolutam. Totum autem vt ex 
 partibus constat, neque sine omni- 
 bus partibus est totum, ita vt sit 
 absolutum, non modo omnes requi- 
 runtur partes, sed & tales quae sunt 
 vera?. Totius autem pars est vera, 
 quam si tollas, aut mouetur totum, 
 aut non amplius est totum. Nam 
 quod tale est, vt siue absit, siue 
 adsit, plane ad totum nil intersit, 
 pars totius dici jjroprie non potest. 
 Qualia siuit Episodia, de quibus 
 postea agemus. vel ejusdem actio- 
 
 458
 
 The Sources of Jonson's "Discoveries" 
 
 9 
 
 The conclusion concerning the 
 ivhole, and the parts. — Which are 
 episodes. — For the whole, as it con- 
 sisteth of parts, so without all the 
 parts it is not the whole ; and to 
 make it absolute is required not 
 only the parts, but such parts as 
 are true. For a part of the whole 
 was true, which, if you take away, 
 you either change the whole or it 
 is not the whole. For if it be such 
 a part, as, being present or absent, 
 nothing concerns the whole, it can- 
 not be called a part of the whole ; 
 and such are the episodes, of which 
 hereafter. For the present here is 
 one example : the single combat of 
 Ajax with Hector, as it is at large 
 described in Homer, nothing be- 
 longs to this Ajax of Sophocles. 
 
 JONSON, p. 74. 
 
 i' But how differs a Poem from 
 ichat ice call a Poesy f — A poem, 
 as I have told you, is the work of a 
 poet; the end and fruit of his labor 
 and study. Poesy is his skill or 
 craft of making; the very fiction it- 
 self, the reason or form of the work. 
 And these three voices differ, as the 
 thing done, the doing, and the doer; 
 the thing feigned, the feigning, and 
 the feigner; so the poem, the poesy, 
 and the poet. Now the poesy is 
 the habit of the art ... . 
 
 nes longe diuersai. Sic, exempli 
 gratia, singulare Ajacis cum Hec- 
 tore certamen, quod prolixe descri- 
 bitur Homero, ad Ajacem Sophoclis 
 non spectat. 
 
 Buchleb's Phrasium poeticarum 
 thesaurus (p. 414). 
 
 Quid distent Poema f& Poesis. 
 Caput VI. 
 
 Poema est opus ipsum Poetae, id 
 nimiiiim quod effectum est, finis & 
 fructus operas atque studij, quod 
 impendit Poeta. Poesis est fictio 
 ipsa, ratione ac forma Poematis, 
 sive industria atque opera facieutis: 
 ut Poema, Poesis, Poeta, haec tria 
 differant, quomodo tres persouse 
 verbi h, quibus oriuntur, Trevoirjixai, 
 
 TTiTroirjaai,, TreTroL-qTai. A prima ex- 
 
 istit Poema, ab altera Poesis, h 
 tertia Poeta, quasi dicas factum, 
 f actio, factor; aut fictum, fictio, fic- 
 tor .... Poesis interdum ipsum 
 etiam habitum sen artem, Poeticam 
 videlicet ipsam declarat." 
 
 1 Buchler's original is to be found in Pontanus, Institutiones pocticcc (InRolstadt, 1594), 
 p. 20. ScALiGEE, Poetic, lib. i, cap. 2 (ed. 1617, p. 12), uses very similar lauguaRe. The dis- 
 tinction was, of course, a commonplace of the classical schools, and may be found in Plu- 
 
 459
 
 10 J. E. Spingarn 
 
 The significance of this literal translation seems to me greater 
 than the mere problem of Qnellenforschungen. Here is no ques- 
 tion of plagiarism, for the Discoveries were never published during 
 Jonson's lifetime, and there is no evidence that they were ever 
 intended for publication. I have not as yet concluded my 
 researches, nor can the literary historian afford to devote much of 
 his time to the subsidiary task of source-hunting ; but these initial 
 results appear to suggest that the Discoveries were merely a com • 
 monplace book, in which Jonson recorded jottings of any kind 
 which might seem to have future usefulness. But we are lucky 
 indeed to have even the commonplace book of the author of Vol- 
 pone. 
 
 In the second place, the significance of Jonson's interest in 
 
 Heinsius, Pontanus, and Buchler is this: the influence of the 
 
 Italian critics had to some extent been superseded by that of the 
 
 Dutch and German critics during the first half of the seventeenth 
 
 century. 
 
 J. E. Spingarn. 
 
 Columbia University. 
 
 tarch, Cornelius Fronto, Aphthonius, Hermogenes, and others (cf. Walz, Rhet. Groeci, 1832, 
 pp. 16, 60; Vossius, De nat. et co7ist. poet., cap. iv, §2, and Gummere, in Modern Language 
 Notes, Vol. XIX, pp. 61, 152). But here Jonson certainly seems to employ the language of 
 Buchler or of Buchler's original; I am inclined to think that he was acquainted with both. 
 
 460
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 j||||l||l|l||lll|l|l|llllll|ll||l 
 
 A A 
 
 001 425 193 
 
 Hill 
 
 3 1205 03058 7420 
 
 I 
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 Santa Barbara 
 
 THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW. 
 
 Series 9482