GEORGE GASCOIGNE'S A HUNDRETH SUNDRIE FLOWERS

Prouty '31. University of Missouri, 1942,pp. 305, $2.50.

This volume is a worthy successor to Dr. Prouty's valuable biography George Gascoigne: Elizabethan Courtier, Soldier, and Poet. The "hundred sundry flowers" are a hundred diverse lyrical poems accompanied by Gascoigne's prose framework. The first fourteen are scattered through a curious tale; "The Adventures of Master F. J.," which has considerable merit as an embryonic psychological novel unspoiled by Italian influence. Most of the poems, however, have no enduring vitality: they are imitations of Petrarchs' sonnets and Chaucer's Troilus and similar models. In such verse, individuality seldom appears, and we need not wonder that the Hundreth SundrieFlowres has often been regarded as an anthology. A dogmatic theory of multiple au- thorship was advanced some years ago by Mr. B. M. Ward, one of the people who believe that the 17th Earl of Oxford wrote the works of Shakespeare. The "discovery" of non-existent cyphers and other mare's-nests was used to "prove" Oxford responsible for sixteen of the hundred flowers,—a ragged garland, at best. Prouty thoroughly demolishes this notion, and builds up a strong case for attributing the entire contents of the volume to Gascoigne. There seems to be no good reason for disputing this attribution now; and scholars whose training makes them competent to appreciate the peculiarities of Elizabethan. literature will certainly welcome this new edition of the Flowres as the best ever published. Our understanding of the Renaissance depends not only on our ability to recognize the nature of genius but also on our appreciation o£ such minor talents as Gascoigne's; and such an appreciation is made possible by Dr. Prouty's intelligent editorial work.

H. M. DARGAN.