_Origin._ Collins, the poet, told Warton that he had seen a romance called "Aurelio and Isabella," printed in Italian, Spanish, French, and English in 1588, which was the original of the Tempest. But no such romance has ever been discovered, and it may justly be questioned if ever such a one existed. Still it is not improbable that Shakespeare may have heard or read some story of people cast away on a desert island. There is also a German play by Jacob Ayrer of Nuremberg, who died early in the seventeenth century, named "Die schöne Sidea," which in its plot and principal characters, bears so strong a resemblance to The Tempest that it is very difficult to avoid supposing a connexion between them; and it might thence appear that Collins was correct, for Shakespeare could hardly have had any knowledge of a German drama. It may, however, be said that he got his knowledge of the plot, &c., from one of the English actors who, as it is now well known, used to go over and perform in Germany. HISTORIES. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING JOHN. _Edition._ Only in the folio, 1623. _Date._ Anterior to 1598, as it is in Meres's list. _Origin._ It was founded on a play called "The First and Second Part of the Troublesome Reign of King John of England," published in 1591. THE LIFE AND DEATH OF KING RICHARD II. _Editions._ 4to, 1597; 4to, 1598; 4to, 1608; 4to, 1615; in the folio, 1623. _Date._ The exact date cannot be ascertained; but from the style I should be inclined to regard it as one of Shakespeare's earliest plays. _Origin._ Hollinshed's Chronicle, and an older play on the same subject. THE FIRST PART OF KING HENRY IV. _Editions._ 4to, 1598; 4to, 1599; 4to, 1604; 4to, 1608; 4to, 1613; in the folio, 1623. _Date._ All we can say is, that it was anterior to 1598, and was most probably written in 1597. _Origin._ Hollinshed's Chronicle, and an anonymous play called "The Famous Victories of Henry V." The comic scenes are entirely Shakespeare's own, both in this and the two succeeding plays. THE SECOND PART OF KING HENRY IV. _Editions._ 4to, 1600; in the folio, 1623. _Date._ Apparently in one of the years between 1597 and 1600. As has been already observed, it could hardly have been in existence when Meres wrote, or he would not have placed Titus Andronicus in his list. It is an objection that before 1597 Shakespeare had changed the name Oldcastle to Falstaff in the First Part, while in the 4to edition of this play a speech (I. 2) has the prefix _Old._ instead of _Fal._ But surely that may have been a slip of the copyist's memory, in consequence of _Oldcastle_ having been the original title. _Origin._ The same as of the First Part. THE LIFE OF KING HENRY V. _Editions._ 4to, 1600; 4to, 1602; 4to, 1608; in the folio, 1623.