[1] "Sir Thomas More's Workes," 127.
[2] "The Workes of Sir Thomas More in the English Tongue, 1557, fo.,"
a venerable folio of nearly 1500 pages in double columns, is closely
printed in black-letter.
[3] Roper's "Life of Sir Thomas More," which had been suppressed
through the reign of Elizabeth, only first appeared in 1626, at
Paris, when a Roman Catholic princess in the person of Henrietta, the
queen of Charles the First, had ascended the throne of England; it
was republished in 1729. There is also an elegant modern reprint by
Mr. Singer.
[4] The Life by his great-grandson was printed in 1627, and
republished in 1726. This biography is the one usually referred to.
Though with a more lucid arrangement, and a fuller narrative, than
Roper's life, the writer inherited little of the family genius,
except the bigotry of his great ancestor.
[5] _Tres Thomae._ The three Thomases are, Aquinas, a Becket, and
More--by Dr. Thomas Stapleton. Another Life by J. H. is an
abridgment, 1662. These writers, Romanists, as well as the
great-grandson, have interspersed in their narrative more than one of
those fabulous incidents and pious frauds, visions, and miracles,
which have been the opprobrium of Catholic biographers.
[6] Macdiarmid, in his "Lives of British Statesmen," has chiefly
considered the political character of this Lord-Chancellor. Others
have written lives merely as accompaniments to the editions of some
of his works.
[7] Works, fo. 346.
[8] "Works of Sir Thomas More," 113, col. 2.
[9] Mr. Singer has furnished us with a correct reprint of this
history. More's "Life of Richard the Third" had been given by our
chroniclers from copies mutilated or altered. A work whose merits
arise from the beauty of its composition admits of neither.
[10] The old translation, "by Raphe Robinson, 1551," has been
republished by Dr. Dibdin, accompanied by copious annotations. Almost
everything relating to the family, the life, and the works of the
author may be found in "the biographical and literary introduction."
It is the first specimen of an edition where the diligence of the
editor has not been wasted on trivial researches or nugatory
commentaries.
[11] "Sir Thomas More's Workes," 348.