John Davies of Hereford, *Microcosmos*, and Henry Neville

Topic: John Davies of Hereford, Microcosmos, and Henry Neville

1. Verified Sourced Facts

• STC 6333, ESTC S109344, TCP A19903 is titled:

“Microcosmos The discovery of the little world, with the government thereof. By Iohn Davies.”

• The same TCP witness gives the imprint:

“At Oxford : Printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to bee solde in Fleetestreete at the signe of the Turkes head by Iohn Barnes, 1603.”

• The TCP witness contains a poem headed:

“To the Noble, discreete, and wellbeloved Knight Sir Henry Nevill.”

• The same poem opens:

“THere was a Time when, ah that so there was,”

• The next line reads:

“Whie not there is? There is and was a Time,”

• Later in the same poem, Davies writes:

“Th' art Vertue, Valour, Truth, and Honors friend;”

• The poem closes with the pun:

“Because thy noble name Ne-vile. denies the vile.”

• An existing EEBO packet in this corpus already records that TCP A19903 contains the dedication:

“to the noble discreete and wellbeloved knight sir Henry Nevill ...”

• The same thread states:

“Why does Davies of Hereford call Neville “discreet”?”

2. Ken Feinstein Twitter and Blog Information

• A Ken Feinstein tweet dated 1 Jan. 2021 states:

“Shakespeare Authorship Day 8: Many scholars have independently found parallels between the works of John Davies of Hereford and Shakespeare. Here is his Sonnet to Henry Neville from 1603.”

• A Ken Feinstein tweet dated 16 June 2019 states:

“Perhaps I am not making this clear. John Davies of Hereford wrote this epigram to Henry Neville in 1603. In 1616 he wrote this — immediately after Neville’s death.”

3. Quoted Source Text

TCP A19903

• “To the Noble, discreete, and wellbeloved Knight Sir Henry Nevill.”
• “THere was a Time when, ah that so there was,”
• “Whie not there is? There is and was a Time,”
• “Yet may I say (I hope) and not transgresse,”
• “Th' art Vertue, Valour, Truth, and Honors friend;”
• “Because thy noble name Ne-vile. denies the vile.”

Ken Feinstein tweet, 1 Jan. 2021

• “Shakespeare Authorship Day 8: Many scholars have independently found parallels between the works of John Davies of Hereford and Shakespeare. Here is his Sonnet to Henry Neville from 1603.”

Ken Feinstein tweet, 16 June 2019

• “Perhaps I am not making this clear. John Davies of Hereford wrote this epigram to Henry Neville in 1603. In 1616 he wrote this — immediately after Neville’s death.”
• “Why does Davies of Hereford call Neville “discreet”?”

4. Citations

• Davies, John. Microcosmos The discovery of the little world, with the government thereof. By Iohn Davies. At Oxford, printed by Ioseph Barnes, and are to bee solde in Fleetestreete at the signe of the Turkes head by Iohn Barnes, 1603. STC 6333. ESTC S109344. Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership, TCP A19903.
• Davies, John. Microcosmos The discovery of the little world, with the government thereof. Archive.org witness, https://archive.org/details/microcosmosdisco00davi/page/n291/mode/1up.
• Feinstein, Ken. “Shakespeare Authorship Day 8: Many scholars have independently found parallels between the works of John Davies of Hereford and Shakespeare. Here is his Sonnet to Henry Neville from 1603.” X, 1 Jan. 2021, https://twitter.com/user/status/1344910344292978688. Local archive: twitter_Books_Read.md.
• Feinstein, Ken. “This is one of the most important texts for solving the Shakepeare Authorship Question. It was written by John Davies of Hereford in 1616. Compare to Scourge of Folly.” X, 16 June 2019, https://twitter.com/user/status/1140319266924687360. Local archive: twitter_John_Davies.md.
• eebo_texts_mentioning_or_dedicating_henry_neville.md, existing packet that already records A19903 as a Henry Neville dedication witness.
• francis_bacon.md, related packet for Bacon’s 28 Mar. 1603 letter to John Davies of Hereford.

5. Local Image Witnesses

6. Notes on Access

• This packet is built on a direct EEBO/TCP witness plus the Archive.org scan you supplied.
• The Ken Feinstein tweets are preserved here as a separate source class and not rewritten as anonymous factual narration.
• The larger interpretive link between the 1603 sonnet and Davies’s later 1611 and 1616 writings belongs partly in this packet but also connects directly to:
• francis_bacon.md
• thomas_vicars.md
• the John Davies materials in /Users/kenf/Neville Book/29_Concealed_Poets