- description
- # The English versions.
## Overview
This section, titled "The English versions," details the history and development of English adaptations of the story of Apollonius of Tyre, particularly as it relates to Shakespeare's play *Pericles*. It was extracted from a larger text, likely a critical edition or scholarly work, and spans lines 13697 to 13711 of its source file.
## Context
This section is part of the chapter "[PERICLES](arke:01KG6S4D9MD59KJ70ZSS7J97J8)", which is itself contained within the "[PDF Workflow Main Test 2026-01-30T00:26:53](arke:01KG6NWQ2H2K4PGG7H4ZHYCZ3Y)" collection. It follows the section "[Its European vogue.](arke:01KG6S5PMXKJ8VSY9GWPKW6HTR)", which discussed the story's popularity across Europe, and precedes "[The play and Gower’s version.](arke:01KG6S5QA1PGGRRKNRHCPWY0WB)". The content was extracted from the text file "[pdf-01KG6Q7Q25RHMFT3SJXPV18VFF.txt](arke:01KG6S2X2EBB305ENM00G16GWA)".
## Contents
The section traces English versions of the Apollonius of Tyre narrative, beginning with an 11th-century manuscript in Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. It highlights John Gower's original English rendering in his *Confessio Amantis* (late 14th century), Robert Copland's 1510 translation of a French prose version, and Laurence Twine's 1576 prose adaptation, *The Patterne of painefull Aduentures*. The text notes that while Twine's version was reissued, the dramatization of the theme, specifically Shakespeare's *Pericles*, drew more heavily from Gower's earlier, more spirited account. It emphasizes Gower's role as the "chorus" in the Shakespearean play, with many of his speeches directly reflecting the style and content of *Confessio Amantis*. Twine's volume is described as providing only "occasional embellishment," with most character names aligning with Gower's story rather than Twine's.
- description_generated_at
- 2026-01-30T06:26:31.192Z
- description_model
- gemini-2.5-flash-lite
- description_title
- The English versions.
- end_line
- 13711
- extracted_at
- 2026-01-30T06:24:08.806Z
- extracted_by
- structure-extraction-lambda
- start_line
- 13697
- text
- The English versions.
In English the earliest version belongs to the eleventh century. A manuscript of that date is in the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. At the end of the fourteenth century the poet Gower introduced an original English rendering into his *Confessio Amantis*. An English translation of a French prose version was made by Robert Copland, and was printed by Wynkyn de Worde in 1510. In 1576 the tale was again ‘gathered into English [prose] by Laurence Twine, gentleman’, under the title: ‘The Patterne of painefull Aduentures, Containing the most excellent, pleasant, and variable Historie of the strange accidents that befell vnto Prince Apollonius, the *Lady Lucina his wife and* Tharsia his daughter. Wherein the vncertaintie of this world, and the fickle state of mans life are liuely described. Gathered into English by Lavrence Twine Gentleman. Imprinted at London by William How. 1576.’ This
‘The book was licensed by the Stationers’ Company to the printer and publisher, William How, July 17, 1576, thus: ‘Willm Howe. Received of him, for his licence to ymprint a booke intituled the most excellent pleasant and variable historie of the strange adventures of prince Apollonius, Lucina his wife, and Tharsa his Daughter. . . . viljd.’ No copy of How’s edition is known. Only a copy of the third edition now seems accessible. This is in the Bodleian Library, and has the imprint, ‘Printed at London by Valentine Sims, 1607.’ The second undated edition bore the imprint, ‘Imprinted at London
<!-- [Page 572](arke:01KG6QKD2FGYQ82DQD4VDMR7XQ) -->
PERICLES 9
volume was twice reissued (about 1595 and in 1607) before the play was attempted. The translator, Laurence Twine, a graduate of All Souls College, Oxford, performed his task without distinction.
The reissue in 1607 of Twine’s English rendering of the old Latin story of Apollonius of Tyre may have suggested the dramatization of the theme. But those who were responsible for the effort did not seek their material alone in Twine’s verbose narrative. They based their work on the earlier, briefer, and more spirited version in Gower’s *Confessio Amantis*. That poem, which was first printed by Caxton in 1483, was twice reprinted in the sixteenth century by Thomas Berthelet in 1532 and 1554, and the latest edition was generally accessible at the beginning of the seventeenth century. A prominent feature of the Shakespearean play is ‘the chorus’ or ‘presenter’ who explains the action before or during the acts. The ‘chorus’ takes the character of the poet Gower. Of his eight speeches (filling in all 305 lines), five (filling 212 lines) are in the short six- or seven-syllable rhyming couplets of Gower’s *Confessio*. Abundant internal details corroborate the professed claim of the writers to dramatize Gower’s version of the ancient story. Twine’s volume only furnished occasional embellishment. Most of the characters bear the names which figure in Gower’s story. All differ materially from those in Twine’s version.
Not that the drama fails to deviate on occasion from the path which Gower followed. At three points the nomenclature of the play differs from all the authorities. In Gower
- title
- The English versions.