F. iiij in eights.
At the back of the title-page is "The life of Synesius drawen out of
Suydas his gatherings," in Greek and in English. Then comes "The Epistle
Apologeticall to the lettered Reader," signed "Thine for thy pleasure
and profite--Abraham Fleming," which, in excuse for taking up so slight
a subject, contains a very singular notice of the celebrated John
Heywood, the dramatist of the reign of Henry VIII., and of his
remarkable poem _The Spider and the Fly_. The _Pretie Paradoxe_, by
Synesius, next commences, and extends as far as sign. D. v. b. This
portion of the tract is, of course, merely a translation, but it
includes a passage or two from Homer, cleverly rendered into English
verse. Here we come to the word _Finis_, and here, I take it, it was
originally intended that the tract should end; but as it was thought
that it would hardly be of sufficient bulk for the money (4d., or 6d. at
the utmost), a sort of appendix was added, which, on some accounts, is
the most interesting part of the work.
It is headed "The tale of Hemetes the Heremite, pronounced before the
Queene's Maiestie," which Warton, who clearly never saw the book, calls
the "Fable of Hermes." In fact, it is, with a few verbal changes, the
tale of Hemetes, which George Gascoigne presented, in Latin, Italian,
French, and English, to Queen Elizabeth, and of which the MS.
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