...the Author, Mr. William Shakespeare (1632) Exhibit B: The players have often mentioned it as an honor to Shakespeare that in his writing (whatsoever he...answer hath been, "Would he had blotted a thousand." — Ben Jonson, Timber; or Discoveries Made Upon Men and Matter (1640) You just can't please some people,...

...scarse receiued from him a blot in his papers. Ben Jonson, in his Discoveries, repeats this claim: / remember, the Players have often mentioned it as an...to Shakespeare, that in his writing, (whatsoever he penn'd) hee never blotted out line. My answer hath beene, would he had blotted a thousand. . . .[hee]...

...in his commonplace book, Discoveries, about the nature of Shakespeare's genius and shortcomings. / remember, the Players have often mentioned it as an...to Shakespeare, that in his writing, (whatsoever he penn'd) hee never blotted out line. My answer hath beene, Would he had blotted a thousand. Which they...

...he told William Drummond in 1619, and in retrospect he tried to sum up his friend's chief defect. 'I remember, the Players have often mentioned it as an honour to Shakespeare', noted Jonson, 'that in his writing, (whatsoever he penn'd), hee never blotted out line. My answer hath...

...temper their praise in his memoir, Timber: or Discoveries, which was posthumously published in 1640: I remember, the players have often mentioned it as an...writing (whatsoever he penned) he never blotted out line. My answer hath been, would he had blotted a thousand . . . He was (indeed) honest, and of an...

...received from him a blot in his papers.' Perhaps they had said the same to Ben jonson who wrote 'I remember the players have often mentioned it as an...writing, whatsoever he penned, he never blotted out line. My answer hath been "Would he had blotted a thousand".' And defending himself against the accusation...

...need never erase a word or a line he has written. Most of you might recall Ben Jonson's remark: 'I remember the players have often mentioned it as an...writing (whatsoever he penned) , he never blotted a line. My answer would have been "Would he had blotted a thousand."' 278 ART OF WRITING and quotations...

...finally. Ben Jonson's offhand comment about the way his contemporary William Shakespeare worked — "in his writing (whatsoever he penned) he never blotted out a line" — may apply to pure genius. But, even if Jonson is right, few others (and you can look at rough drafts...

...Jonson's papers after his death in 1637 and printed in Discoveries in 1641, is the following comment: I remember, the Players have often mentioned it as an...to Shakespeare, that in his writing, (whatsoever he penn'd) hee never blotted out line. My answer hath beene, Would he had blotted a thousand. Which they...

...of Discoveries. One of these, No. 44, entitled 'De Shakespeare Nostrati', comprises the following: I remember, the Players have often mentioned it as an...to Shakespeare, that in his writing, (whatsoever he penn'd) he never blotted out line. My answer hath been, would he had blotted a thousand. Which they...