[From Francis Meres, Palladis Tamia, 1598.]
Meres (1565/6-1647) was educated at Cambridge and became rector of Wing, Rutland, where he also ran a school.
Meres's collection of commonplaces includes a long section titled 'A comparatiue discourse of our English Poets, with the Greeke, Latine, and Italian Poets'. In a middle section of this 'discourse' Meres provides parallels between classical and English poets for each of eight 'notable seuerall kindes of Poets', heroic, lyric, tragic, comic, satiric, iambic, elegiac and pastoral (282v). Jonson is mentioned last among the English exponents of tragedy. His is the only name in this list with first name also included, perhaps indicating a degree of unfamiliarity. Meres mentions Jonson's name only this once in his 'Discourse'; other names like Shakespeare and Sidney appear frequently (these two nine times each), with some more or less extended commentary on individual works. In all, well over fifty English poets are mentioned by name. In the area of drama, academic tragedy and comedy are included as well as those for the public stage, with no explicit privileging of the former. Below is the whole section on tragedy.
*****************************************As these Tragicke Poets flourished in Greece, Aeschylus, Euripedes, Sophocles, Alexander Aetolus, Achæus Erithræus, Astydamas Atheniensis, Apollodorus Tarsensis, Nichomachus Phrygius, Thespis Atticus, and Timon Apolloniates; and these among the Latines, Accius, M. Attilius, Pomponius Secundus and Seneca; so these are our best for Tragedie, the Lorde Buckhurst, Doctor Leg of Cambridge, Doctor Edes of Oxforde, maister Edward Ferris, the Author of the Mirrour for Magistrates, Marlow, Peele, Watson, Kid, Shakespeare, Drayton, Chapman, Decker, and Beniamin Johnson.
As M. Anneus Lucanus writ two excellent Tragedies, one called Medea, the other de Incendio Troiæ cum Priami calamitate: so Doctor Leg hath penned two famous tragedies, the one of Richard the 3. the other of the destruction of Ierusalem.
(282v-283)