Thomas Nashe's
The Unfortunate Travellerwas first published in 1594 by the printer Thomas Scarlet in London but was entered into the Stationer's Register on 27 September 1593. Nashe dedicates his text to Lord Henry Wriothesley and in the dedicatory epistle expresses his desire to “approve [his] wit” (251), perhaps hoping for some pecuniary support in return from the man to whom Shakespeare had recently dedicated both “Venus and Adonis” (1593) and “The Rape of Lucrece” (1594). His strategy was, as far as we know, unsuccessful, since the dedication was removed from the second printed edition (also issued in 1594).
Nashe was acutely attuned to key literary trends of the period and the relative market value of certain types of writing but this has not prevented harsh criticism of
2516 words
Citation: Ward, Allyna. "The Unfortunate Traveller; Or, The Life of Jack Wilton". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 05 May 2010 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=8017, accessed 27 November 2024.]
