John Florio, the man who was Shakespeare



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“As for me, for it is I, and I am an Englishman in Italiane”

John Florio, Second Frutes, To the Reader.

>> Fifteen Reasons
for John Florio,
The Man Who Invented Shakespeare

>> Quindici Ragioni
per John Florio,
L’uomo che ha
inventato Shakespeare

>> Florio As Seen By Scholars : 1921-2007

>> Author matters

>> In pursuit of meaning

>> A world of words

>> Florio’s words, Shakespeare’s words

>> Chapter 7: (excerpt)
The Translation of Montaigne’s Essais

>> Chapter 8: (excerpt)
Language, Style,
And Euphuism

>> Chapter 17: (excerpt)
The Spirit and The Land
of Italy

>> L’Italia e Florio

>> John Florio
and His Entourage

>> The Testament
of John Florio

>> Florio’s works

Florio - Shakespeare
Florio’s words, Shakespeare’s words

Of these unusual words some are hapaxes, words used only once by Shakespeare (also called nonce words). Since the publication of my book in September 2009, I’ve pursued a semantic search which will lead to a stylometric study of Florio’s and Shakespeare’s works. I have no doubt that the final data from such a test, will provide a massive and striking evidence of the identity of the “two” styles: same linguistic habits, same turns of phrase, thousands of common words and ideas.

Here are twenty-four words which Florio and Shakespeare have in common. The collection represents, really, the tip of the iceberg. Few of these words are rarely employed by other writers but most of them are solely Shakespeare’s words and cannot be found in the plays or poems of the major playwrights and writers of the period. The only exception is… John Florio!

At the end of the list you’ll find two striking expressions, which represent a real DNA test, an irrefutable proof of Florio’s Shakespearian identity.

* * *

IN THEIR OWN WORDS

A-NIGHTS, JF, Second Frutes (1591), XI, 161
A-NIGHTS, WS, As You, (1599-1600) 2, 4, 48 (nonce word)

ATTENTIVENES Second Frutes IV
ATTENTIVENESS Winter’s Tale (1608-1611) 5, 2, 94 (nonce word)

CHERURGIONS Montaigne’s Essays, (1600-1603)
CHIRURGEONLY The Tempest,(1611) 2,1,136

COVETOUSNES Second Frutes IV
COVETOUSNESS King John (1595) 4, 2, 29

DISANULL Montaigne’s Essays, 1,24
DISANNUL Errors,(1590-94) 1,1,145; 3Henry VI, (1588-92) 3,3,81

DISTRUSTFULNESSE Montaigne’s Essays, I, ch..23
DISTRUSTFUL 1Henry VI, (1588-92) 1, 2,126 (nonce word)

DROUZINES, Dictionary, 1598 (translates « sonnolenza »)
DROWSINES, The Tempest, 2,1,199

GALLIMAFRIE Second Frutes III
GALLIMAUFRY Wives (1600-1601) 2,1, 119; Winter’s 4,4,335

GOOD-MORROW First Fruites, I (1578)
GOOD-MORROW After Florio, the first appearance is in WS

HANDY-DANDY which is the justice, which is the thief? Lear, (1605-06) 4, 6,157
HANDY-DANDY what is this? Montaigne’s Essays, III, 177

HURLY-BURLYMontaigne’s Essays, p.141
HURLY-BURLY Macbeth, (1605-08) 1,1,3; 1HenryIV, (1596-97) 5,1,78

IMBECILLITIE Montaigne’s Essays
IMBECILLITY Troilus, (1601-02) 1,3,114 (nonce word)

INCONSIDERATELY Montaigne’s Essays, I, p.141
INCONSIDERATE King John,(1594)2, 67; LLL, (1594),3,79

MAGNIFICENCE Montaigne (1600-1603)
MAGNIFICENCE Winter’s Tale 1,1,13

MISFORTUNE Montaigne, First book, ch.2
MISFORTUNE Used twelve times in WS

MISLIKE Second Frutes IV, 61
MISLIKE Merchant of Venice, (1596-98) 2,1,1; 2 Henry VI (1588-92); 1,1,140; Antony and Cleopatra (1606) 3,13,147

PROPINQUITIE Dictionary 1598, 1611
PROPINQUITY King Lear (1605) 1,1,116 (nonce word)

SERVITOR Montaigne’s Essays
SERVITOR Several times in WS

SOTTISH Montaigne’s Essays
SOTTISH Antony,(1606) 4,15,79 (nonce word)

UNMANNERLY, Second Frutes , IV, 49
UNMANNERLY, Used nine times in WS

UNQUIETNESSE Montaigne’s Essays ch.19
UNQUIETNESS Much Ado,(1598) 1,3,50; Othello,(1602) 3,4,133

WEATHER-BEATEN Montaigne, Introduction
WEATHER-BEATEN 1Henry IV, (1596-97) 3,1,67 (nonce word)

WELL-MEANING Montaigne’s Essays, To the Reader
WELL-MEANING Richard II, (1594) 1,128

WOLVISH Second Frutes VI, 123
WOLVISH Merchant 4,1,138; King Lear 1,4,330

* * *

TWO EXPRESSIONS

Shakespeare, Henry IV Part One ( 1. 2. 8)

(…) unless hours were cups of sack, and minutes capons, and clocks the tongues of bawds, and the dials the signs of leaping-houses (…)
Leaping-house = brothel. But where does this colorful, lively word come from?

John Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, 1598

SALTARE, to leape, to iump, to skip, to hop, to prance, to bound, to dance, to trip, to vault, to tumble, to spring. Also to pant and beate. Also to ride or leape on another as males doe on the females in the acte of generation
and
Queen Anna’s New World of Words, 1611
SALTARE, to leape, to hop, to skip, to trip, to iumpe, to spring, to prance, to bound, to salt, to vault, to dance. Also to pant as the pulse doeth. Also to ride, to sault or leape one upon another as males doe on the females in the act of generation.

* * *

Shakespeare, Coriolanus, 2, 3, 15

1 Citizen. And to make us no better thought of, a little help will serve; for once we stood up about the corn, he himself stuck not to call us the many-headed multitude

John Florio, A Worlde of Wordes, 1598

PLEBE, the common kind of base people, the meaner sort, the multitude or route, the many headed monster multitude.
and
Queen Anna’s New World of Words, 1611
PLEBE, the common or meaner sort of people, the many-headed-monster-multitude.

	John Florio The Man Who Was Shakespeare by Lamberto Tassinari Giano Books 388 pages $ 20.00
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