Oxford, Jan. 17. 1850.
_Name of Shylock._--When Mr. Knight says that _Scialac_ was "the name of
a Marionite (Maronite?) of mount Libanus," he appears to consider the
{222} term peculiar, or nearly so, to that personage; but Upton, as long
ago as 1748, in his _Critical Observations_, 2nd ed. p. 299., remarked,
that _Scialac_ was the generic name, and _Shylock_ merely a corruption.
I may also remark, that Mr. Knight dismisses Dr. Farmer's theory as
worthless, without sufficient consideration. It by no means follows that
1607 is the date of the _first edition_ of _Caleb Shillocke_, merely
because Boswell saw a copy bearing that date.