John Weever

John Weever, of Lancashire, entered Queen's College Cambridge as a pensioner (B.A.1598); he travelled on the Continent before returning to pursue antiquarian investigations in London. Remembered for his verses on Shakespeare, John Weever was an antiquarian friend of John Seldon, Sir Simonds d'Ewes, and Robert Cotton. His Ancient Funerall Monuments (1631) was of considerable use to later researchers.

TEXT RECORDS:

1599In Obitum Ed. Spencer Poetae Prestantiss.
1599Lectores, quotquot, quales, quicunq; estis.
1599The Fifth Weeke. Epig. 7. In Braggadochionem.
1599The First Weeke. Epig. 3. In Elizabetham.
1600Faunus and Melliflora.
1601Rochester Bridge.
1601The Mirror of Martyrs.

PUBLICATIONS:

Epigrammes in the oldest cut and newest fashion. 1599.
Faunus and Melliflora: or the original of our English satyres. 1600.
An agnus Dei. 1601.
The mirror of martyrs: the life and death of Sir John Oldcastle. 1601.
The whipping of the satyre [by Weever?] 1601.
Ancient funerall monuments. 1631.
Rochester Bridge; a poem written in 1601, ed. W. B. Rye. 1887.

PROFILE AND
ASSOCIATES:

English
Anglican

Queen's College Cambridge
Bachelor of Arts

antiquary
poet

Robert Allott
Robert Cotton
Rev. William Covell
Michael Drayton
Ben Jonson
John Selden

REFERENCE:

DNB; NCBEL.

[Portrait in Ancient Funerall Monuments (1631)]; Thomas Fuller, Worthies of England (1662); William Oldys, "Ancient Funerall Monuments" British Librarian (June 1737) 344-64; "Weever's Epitaph" Gentleman's Magazine 58 (July 1788) 600; Joseph Ritson, Bibliographia Poetica (1802) 390; "John Weever" Censura Literaria 2 (1806) 149; James Granger, Biographical History (1769; 1824) [portrait]; Samuel Egerton Brydges, Theatrum Poetarum Anglicanorum (1800); "John Weever" Gentleman's Magazine 76 (Supplement, 1806) 1198; William Beloe, Anecdotes of Literature 6 (1812) 156-60; Alexander Chalmers, General Biographical Dictionary (1812-17); Robert Watt, Bibliotheca Britannica (1824); Edward Farr, Select Poetry, chiefly sacred, of the Reign of King James the First (1847); Allibone, Critical Dictionary of English Literature (1858-71; 1882); Venn and Venn, Alum. Cant. (1922-27); A. Davenport, Weever, Ovid, and Shakespeare" Notes and Queries 194 (1949) 524-25; Hallett Smith, in Elizabethan Poetry: A Study in Conventions, Meaning, and Expression (1952); Cummings, Spenser: The Critical Heritage (1971); Saunders, Renaissance Poets (1983); E. J. A. Honigmann, John Weever, a Biography (1987); Chadwyck-Healey English Poetry Database (1995).

COMMENTARY RECORDS
for John Weever:

1.	1599  John Weever, "In Authorem" Epigrams (1599); Beloe, Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books 6 (1812) 156-60; 157-58.
2.	1599  Ed. Gurney, "To the Author" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. A4v.
3.	1599  T. B., "In commendation of the Worke and the Author" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. A3-A3v.
4.	1599  I. K., "In Authorem" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. A3v.
5.	1600  Michael Drayton, "Of the Author" Weever, Faunus and Melliflora (1600) Sig A3v.
6.	1600  I. F., in Weever, Faunus and Melliflora (1600) Sig. A4.
7.	1600  T. H., in Weever, Faunus and Melliflora (1600) Sig. A4v.
8.	1616  Ben Jonson, Epigram XVIII; Works (1616).
9.	1633  Anonymous, "Upon my very worthy Friend Master John Weever, a learned Antiquary" in Strype, Survey of London (1633); Gentleman's Magazine 58 (July 1788) 600.
10.	1807  Anonymous, in "Strictures on the Gentleman's Magazine" Gentleman's Magazine 77 (September 1807) 808.
11.	1847  Edward Farr, in Select Poetry, chiefly sacred, of the Reign of King James the First (1847) xl.
12.	1866  John Payne Collier, "Epigrammes in the oldest cut and newest fashion" in Bibliographical and Critical Account of the Rarest Books (1866) 4:227-30.

BIOGRAPHY RECORDS
for John Weever:

1.	1662  Thomas Fuller, in History of the Worthies of England (1662) 2:117.
2.	1769  James Granger, in Biographical History of England (1769; 1824) 3:152.
3.	1800  Samuel Egerton Brydges, in Theatrum Poetarum Anglicanorum (1800) 227.
4.	1802  Joseph Ritson, Bibliographia Poetica (1802) 390.
5.	1812  Alexander Chalmers, in General Biographical Dictionary (1812-17) 31:271.
6.	1814  George Dyer, in History of the University and Colleges of Cambridge (1814) 2:156.

AUTHOR AS CRITIC:
(commentary records)

1.	1599  Robert Allott:   John Weever, "Ad Robert Allot, and Christopher Middleton" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. D8v.
2.	1599  Rev. William Covell:   John Weever, "In Gulielmum Covel" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. D6v.
3.	1599  Samuel Daniel:   John Weever, "Ad Samuelem Daniel" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. F8.
4.	1599  Michael Drayton:   John Weever, "Ad Michaelem Drayton" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. B6v.
5.	1599  Rev. John Marston:   John Weever, "Ad John Marston and Ben Johnson" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. F8v.
6.	1599  William Warner:   John Weever, "Ad Gulielmum Warner" Weever, Epigrammes in the oldest Cut, and newest Fashion (1599) sig. G.
7.	1599  John Weever:   John Weever, "In Authorem" Epigrams (1599); Beloe, Anecdotes of Literature and Scarce Books 6 (1812) 156-60; 157-58.
8.	1601  Rev. William Covell:   John Weever, "To the lively Image of all moral Vertues, and true Perfection of all heaven-borne Artes, William Covell, Bachelor of Divinitie" Weever, Mirror of Martyrs (1601) sig. A2.