The meagre information we have as to the life and habits of Shakespeare
would seem to make it an almost hopeless task now to discover the causes
of his insomnia. He wrote a marvellous body of literature, and it might
be thought this labor itself would suffice as an explanation: that the
furnace heat in which the conceptions of Hamlet and Macbeth and Lear
were wrought in the crucible of his brain would be fatal to repose. But
his contemporaries speak of him as an easy and rapid writer; one whose
imagination is only paralleled by the ease, the force and beauty of the
phrase in which it is embodied. We are told, too, by Dr. H.A. Johnson,
an eminent medical authority, in the second volume of his treatise on
the pathology of the optic nerve, that it is not work, even heavy and
continuous, but worry over this work, which drives away repose and
shortens life.
I had observed, in collating the many passages in Shakespeare concerning
sleep, that the greater number, and those bearing evidence of deepest
earnestness, occurred in six plays: "Richard III.," "Macbeth," "1 Henry
IV.," "Hamlet," "2 Henry IV.," and "Henry V." The chronology of
Shakespeare's plays seems almost hopeless, scarcely any two writers
agreeing as to the order of the plays or the years in which they were
written. Several of the most critical authorities, however,--Dyce,
White, Furnival, and Halliwell-Phillipps,--are agreed that two of the
plays above named were written in 1593, three in 1602, and one in 1609.
This would seem to indicate that during these three years unusual
perplexities or anxieties had surrounded our author; and on noting this,
it occurred to me that on these points the series of papers recently
discovered and called the Southampton manuscripts, which are not yet
published, might give light. I accordingly addressed a letter to the
Director of the British Museum, where the manuscripts are placed for
safe keeping, and received the following reply:--
BRITISH MUSEUM, OFFICE OF CHIEF CURATOR, DEPARTMENT OF MANUSCRIPTS,
LONDON, Feb. 14, 1886.
SIR,--I am directed by the Curator to acknowledge the receipt of
your valued favor of February 1, transmitting for preservation and
reference in the library of this institution--
1. The manuscript of the farewell address of Dr. Charles Gilman
Smith, on his retirement to private life from the presidency of the
Chicago Literary Club;
2. The manuscript of the inaugural address of his successor in the
office,--which is a public trust,--James S. Norton, Esq.;
3. An affidavit of Dr. W.F. Poole, that both manuscripts are
originals, and in the handwriting of their eminent authors.
The Curator further instructs me to convey to you the thanks of the
Board of Governors for these highly important papers, and to state
to you that they may be found on file in sub-compartment No. 113,280
of Contemporary Documents.
I am further instructed by the Curator to inform you that compliance
with your request that this institution reciprocate your kindness by
loaning to you all papers from the recently discovered Southampton
Shakespeare Collection, bearing date in the years 1593, 1602, and
1609, is contrary to the regulations of this institution. If you
cannot visit London to examine these interesting manuscripts, copies
will be made and transmitted you for three halfpence per folio,
payment by our rules invariably in advance. I note that you are
evidently in error upon one point. The collection contains no
letters or manuscripts of Shakespeare. It is composed principally of
letters written to Shakespeare by various people, and which, after
his death, in some way came into the possession of the Earl of
Southampton. His death, so soon after that of Shakespeare, doubtless
caused these letters to be lost sight of, and they were but last
year discovered in the donjon of the castle. I have examined the
letters for the years you name, and find that copies of the same can
be made for £3 3s., exclusive of postage.
Very respectfully yours,