"THE EXCELLENT History of the Merchant of Venice. With the extreme cruelty of Shylocke the Iew towards the saide Merchant, in cutting a iust pound of his flesh. And the obtaining of Portia, by the choyse of three caskets. Written by W. SHAKESPEARE. Printed by J. Roberts, 1600." 4to. 40 leaves.

:

"The most excellent Historie of the Merchant of Venice. With the extreame crueltie of Shylocke the lewe towards the sayd Merchant, in cutting a iust pound of his flesh and the obtayning of Portia by the choyse of three chests. As it hath beene diuers times acted by the Lord Chamberlaine his Seruants. Written by William Shakespeare. AT LONDON, Printed by I. R., for Thomas Heyes, and are to be sold in Paules Churchyard, at the signe of the Greene Dragon, 1600.” 4to. 38 leaves.

The Merchant of Venice occupies twenty-two pages in the folio of 1623, viz., from p. 163 to p. 184, inclusive, in the division of Comedies. It is there divided into Acts, but not into Scenes, and has no list of Dramatis Personæ.

[A third quarto was issued in 1637, and a fourth quarto in 1652.]

The most excellent

Hiftorie of the Merchant
of Venice.

VVith the extreame crueltie of Shylocke the lewe
towards the fayd Merchant, in cutting a iuft pound
of his flesh: and the obtayning of Portia
by the choyle of three
chefts.

As it hath beene diuers times acted by the Lord
Chamberlaine his Seruants.

Written by William Shakeípeare.

AT LONDON,

Printed by 1. R. for Thomas Heyes, and are to be fold in Paules Church-yard, at the figne of the Greene Dragon.

1600.

THE MERCHANT OF VENICE

1

INTRODUCTION

HE story of The Merchant of Venice is in part, at least, of Eastern origin; and all of it is of great and undeterminable antiquity. It had been told again and again, by various authors and in various tongues, centuries before Shakespeare was born; and there is some reason to believe that it had even been put into a dramatic shape and played in London long before he left Stratford: yet in no one of his works has he exhibited his creative powers more lavishly, though in some the peculiar traits of his genius are more strikingly apparent. Three tales, one turning upon the giving of the bond, one upon the choice of the caskets, and one recounting the elopement of a daughter from an avaricious father, have been interwoven to form the plot of this play. That of the bond was written in Italian by Giovanni Fiorentino, as early as 1378,2 but exists in England in a MS. of a still more ancient date, 1320, or thereabout,3 — and is also found in the Latin Gesta Romanorum, a translation of which version exists in a MS. of the time of Henry VI. But even a mere enumeration of the various collections of tales, published and unpublished, which contain the one that turns upon this in

66

1 An introductory paragraph with regard to the hoary age of most "good stories" is omitted.

(R)

2 See Collier's Shakespeare's Library, Vol. II.

3 See Thomas Wright's Collection of Latin Stories Illustrative of the History of Fiction during the Middle Ages, published by the Percy Society.

4 This very interesting translation was printed by Douce, in his Illustrations of Shakespeare, Vol. I. p. 281.

cident of the Bond, would be both tedious and needless; and we come at once to that which bears internal evidence of having been more or less directly the channel through which Shakespeare received it. This is Il Pecorone of Gio

vanni Fiorentino, first published at Milan, in 1558, though written, as we have seen, nearly two hundred years before. In the Fourth Day of that work the story of Giannetto is told, which is briefly this.1

Giannetto, the son of a wealthy Florentine merchant, is left by his father dependent entirely upon his own exertions and the good offices of Ansaldo, “the richest merchant of the day among the Christians" of Venice. Arrived in Venice, Giannetto finds his father's friend ready to place himself and his fortune at the disposal of his father's son, In Ansaldo's house he is treated like a favoured child and heir expectant, and passes the time at tilts and tournaments and in giving entertainments. He is such a charming person and conducts himself so winningly that women and men alike yield to his fascination. Ansaldo is entirely devoted to him. A trading venture to Alexandria being proposed by two of his friends, Giannetto joins it, more to see the world, "and especially Damascus and those countries there," than from hope of profit. Ansaldo provides him with a richly laden argosy, and the little fleet sets sail. After they have been a few days at sea, Giannetto observes an inviting port, and learns from the Captain that it belongs to a beautiful widow who has been the ruin of many gentlemen. For she has made it absolute that every gentleman adventurer who arrives at the port shall be her companion through one night, during which if he can obtain from her a husband's privilege, she will on the morrow make him lord of herself and the fair country round; but if he fail he is to forfeit his ship and its cargo to his fair entertainer. Giannetto slips away from his companions in the night and makes sail for this port, the name of which is Belmont.

1 Collier has reprinted this story in the second volume of his Shakespeare's Library, accompanied by a not very faithful translation, originally published in 1755.