Who was Leonard Digges the English Hispanist and poet?
Leonard Digges (1588-the 7th of April 1635) was an English Hispanist and minor poet, younger son of the astronomer Thomas Digges and younger brother of diplomat Sir Dudley Digges. His stepfather, Thomas Russell of Alderminster, was named by William Shakespeare as one of the two overseers of his will. Digges studied at University College, Oxford, later spent years at continental universities, and contributed prefatory verses to Shakespeare's First Folio.
What works did Leonard Digges translate?
Digges translated Claudian's The Rape of Proserpine, printed in 1617, and translated Varia fortuna de soldado Píndaro by Gonzalo de Céspedes y Meneses, published in 1622 as Gerardo, the Unfortunate Spaniard. John Fletcher drew on Gerardo as a source for two of his plays, The Spanish Curate and The Maid in the Mill.
Did Leonard Digges contribute to Shakespeare's First Folio?
Yes, Leonard Digges contributed prefatory verses to Shakespeare's First Folio, published in 1623. James Mabbe and Ben Jonson also contributed poems to the volume. All three writers were connected through the publisher Edward Blount, who was one of the syndicate that produced the First Folio.
What is the Leonard Digges inscription in the Lope de Vega book at Balliol College?
The inscription is a note Digges wrote on the flyleaf of a copy of Rimas by Lope de Vega, a book published in 1613 that James Mabbe sent from Madrid to their Oxford friend Will Baker. Digges told Baker that the Spaniards regarded Lope de Vega the way the English regarded Shakespeare, and that anyone who failed to admire the Spanish poet must never attempt Spanish verse. The book survives in the library of Balliol College.
When did Leonard Digges receive his MA from Oxford and why was it unusual?
In 1626, the University College Oxford convocation granted Leonard Digges a Master of Arts degree in consideration of the many years he had spent "in good letters in transmarine universities." He moved into the college and remained there until his death in 1635.
Why do scholars believe Leonard Digges's verses in the 1640 Shakespeare Poems were not intended for that collection?
The scholar Freehafer noted that the commendatory verses Digges wrote, which John Benson published in a 1640 edition of Shakespeare's Poems five years after Digges died, discuss Shakespeare's plays rather than his poems. This suggests the verses were originally written for the Second Folio rather than for Benson's collection. What Digges actually intended them for remains an open question.