Shakespeare and Precious Stones
The diamond, why, 'twas beautiful and hard, Whereto his invised 8 properties did tend; The deep-green emerald, in whose fresh regard Weak sights their sickly radiance do amend; The heaven-hued sapphire and the opal blend With objects manifold: each several stone, With wit well blazon'd, smiled or made some moan.
Had Shakespeare felt much interest in the lore of gems, he had before him most of the then available material in a book of which he seems to have made some use.9 This was an English rendering of the "De Proprietatibus Rerum" of Bartholomseus Anglicus (fl. ca. 1350)5 by Stephan Batman, or Bateman (d. 1587), an English divine and poet, who in the later years of his life was chaplain and librarian to the famous Archbishop Parker, and thus had free access to the latter's fine library. His rendering, published in 1582, bears the following quaint title: "Batman uppon Bartholome his Book De Proprietatibus Rerum"; it was published in 1582, and appears to have been widely read in
8 Rare word, only known in this passage. Century Dictionary gives "invisible," "unseen," "uninspected," noting that some commentators suggest "inspected," "tried," "investigated."
9 See H. R. D. Anders, "Shakespeare's Books," Berlin, 1904, pp. 238-248, and the New Shakespeare Soc. Trans.,
1877-79, pp- 436 sqq-
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