n 1608 (by R. B. for Thomas Pavier). None of these
six plays have any internal claim to Shakespeare's authorship;
nevertheless all were uncritically included in the third folio of his
collected works,(1664). Schlegel and a few other critics of repute have,
on no grounds that merit acceptance, detected signs of Shakespeare's
genuine work in one of the six, 'The Yorkshire Tragedy;' it is 'a coarse,
crude, and vigorous impromptu,' which is clearly by a far less
experienced hand.

The fraudulent practice of crediting Shakespeare with valueless plays
from the pens of comparatively dull-witted contemporaries was in vogue
among enterprising traders in literature both early and late in the
seventeenth century. The worthless old play on the subject of King John
was attributed to Shakespeare in the reissues of 1611 and 1622. Humphrey
Moseley, a reckless publisher of a later period, fraudulently entered on
the 'Stationers' Register' on September 9, 1653, two pieces which he
represented to be in whole or in part by Shakespeare, viz. 'The Merry
Devill of Edmonton' and the 'History of Cardenio,' a share in which was
assigned to Fletcher. 'The Merry Devill of Edmonton,' which was produced
on the stage before the close of the sixteenth century, was entered on
the 'Stationers' Register,' October 22, 1607, and was first published
anonymously in 1608; it is a delightful comedy, abounding in both humour
and romantic sentiment; at times it recalls scenes of the 'Merry Wives of
Windsor,' but no sign of Shakespeare's workmanship is apparent. The
'History of Cardenio' is not extant. {181} Francis Kirkman, another
active London publisher, who first printed William Rowley's 'Birth of
Merlin' in 1662, described it on the title-page as 'written by William
Shakespeare and William Rowley;' it was reprinted at Halle in a so-called
'Collection of pseudo-Shakespearean plays' in 1887.

'The Passionate Pilgrim.'

But poems no less than plays, in which Shakespeare had no hand, were
deceptively placed to his credit as soon as his fame was established. In
1599 William Jaggard, a well-known pirate publisher, issued a poetic
anthology which he entitled 'The Passionate Pilgrim, by W. Shakespeare.'
The volume opened with two sonnets by Shakespeare which were not
previously in print, and there followed three poems drawn from the
already published 'Love's Labour's Lost;' but the bulk of the volume was
by Richard Barnfield and others. {182} A thir