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Tales From Shakspeare, by C. and M. Lamb [a Selection] With Notes by C.d. Punchard. Repr
Tales From Shakspeare by C and M Lamb With Notes by Cd Punchard Repr - a Selection Author:Charles Lamb General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1903 Subjects: Drama / Shakespeare Literary Criticism / Shakespeare Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustrations and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to M... more »illion-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: NOTES. THE TEMPEST. The Tempest was written by Shakspeare about 1609 or 1610 There was throughout Europe at that time a general belief in witchcraft and magic. In England an interest in such things was kept up by a number of learned works on magic. King James was among the writers, and published Demonology in 1603, in which he believed that he had proved the existence of witches. Readers were also greatly attracted at this time by stories of the marvels of nature in distant lauds recorded by travellers, some of whom described imaginary beings and phenomena quite as remarkable as those which figure in the Tempest. Shakspeare has therefore in his play followed the spirit of the time. To make it more attractive he connected with it an event that had attracted the attention of the London world. In 1609 Sir George Somers li ad been wrecked off the Bermudas, and in 1610 a pamphlet, called The Discovery of the Bermudas or DeviPs Inland, gave a description of the storm in which Admiral Somers' ship had been driven on the rocks, and how the sailors had escaped on to an island resembling that which is described in the Tempest. Page 1, line 9. magic. This included most of the early researches and discoveries in science. The " learned men " who "affected it," i. e. devoted their time to the study of magic, included such men as Roger Bacon, whose researches led to the discovery of the composition of gunpowder. The word ' magic ' is derived from Greek, /xdyos, an enchanter, or a wise man, who interprets dreams. His skill was ' magic art.' 12. had be...« less