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It looks like I spoke too soon on the Middleton epitaph on Burbage, which is not a Colllier forgery after all -- it appears in the Oxford Middleton alongside a facsimile of the MS. On pp. 1112-1113, in their discussion of Collier's New Facts Regarding the Life of Shakespeare, the Freemans recount Collier's description of the poem, which he says appeared in "a MS. miscellany of poetry belonging to the late Mr. Heber... made about the year 1630," and which was subsequently printed in the editions of Dyce and Bullen, and cited by Chambers, Nungezer, and Bentley. They then say that "Doubts about the genuineness of the epitaph were voiced in 1986 by Joel H. Kaplan, one of the editors of the forthcoming Clarendon Press edition of Middleton, who pointed out that no writer since Collier appears to have seen the MS, and that no record of such a MS can be found in Heber's sale cataloges." However, Gary Taylor, the eventual editor of the Oxford Middleton when it finally came out in 2007, did find the MS, "a personal manuscript miscellany compiled about 1630 by Robert Bishop", and printed the facsimile and the poem on page 1889 of the edition. So the Freemans are not infallible, though they're still the first place I look for anything Collier-related. Dave Kathman [log in to unmask] > > From: REED-L: Records of Early English Drama Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask] > ] On Behalf Of David Kathman > Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 10:58 AM > To: [log in to unmask] > Subject: Re: Fwd: a question for REED-L > > Actually, the Freemans (on p. 262 of their John Payne Collier; see > my previous e-mail) mention the Middleton epitaph on Burbage as a > forgery. Specifically, they mention it as being one of five > "novelties" for which Collier gave no location or source in his New > Facts Regarding the Life of Shakespeare (1835), and which have never > been seen since then, so that "posterity has judged them to be > fabrications". Collier did say that he found the Middleton epitaph > on Burbage "in a MS miscellany of poetry belonging to the late Mr. > Heber", but such a poem has never been found in the Heber MSS. > Nungezer was somewhat credulous, and his "Dictionary of Actors" > includes a number of items described by Collier that are now thought > to be forgeries. > > Dave Kathman > [log in to unmask] > > On 10/19/2010 7:06 AM, A.J.Gurr wrote: > I believe that Middleton wrote a verse when Burbage and Queen Anne > both died, in which he commented that the actor's death evoked more > grief than the queen's. That is probably what collier was talking > about. I think it's quoted in Nungezer's DICTIONARY. > > I hope that's a useful guide. > > Andy Gurr. > > > On Oct 18 2010, Abigail Ann Young wrote: > > > PLease copy responses to Tanya as well since she is not subscribed > to the list. Thanks! Abigail > > -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: a question for REED-L > Date: Fri, 15 Oct 2010 11:52:31 -0400 > From: Tanya Hagen <[log in to unmask]> > To: [log in to unmask] > > > REED's London Theatres Bibliography crew would be most grateful for > any assistance in tracking down an original source. In /Memoirs of > the Principal Actors in the Plays of Shakespeare/, p 19, Collier > refers to a manuscript epitaph entitled 'De Burbagio et Regina,' but > provides no further information. As far as we understand, this is > not one of Collier's notorious forgeries. Anyone knowing anything > will be doing us a huge favour by getting in touch. > > Kind thanks, > > Tanya Hagen > >