The Spanish Tragedy held its own right through the careers of Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and Fletcher. It was not any short coming in its harrowing and exciting plot, but the tameness of its archaic versification, which probably led in 1602 to its receiving "additions," which have been a great stumbling-block to the critics. It is known that Ben Jonson was paid for "additions," but the new scenes are unlike all other known writings of his, and sev eral scholars have independently conjectured that John Webster wrote them. The influence of Kyd is marked on all the immediate predecessors of Shakespeare, and the bold way in which scenes of violent crime were treated on the Elizabethan stage appears to be directly owing to the example of Kyd's innovating genius. His possible relation to Hamlet has already been noted, and Titus An dronicus presents and exaggerates many of his characteristics. Ger man critics have pushed too far their attempt to find indications of Kyd's influence on later plays of Shakespeare. The extraordinary interest felt for Kyd in Germany is explained by the fact that The Spanish Tragedy was long the best known of all Elizabethan plays abroad. It was acted at Frankfort in 1601, and published soon afterwards at Nuremberg. It continued to be a stock piece in Ger many until the beginning of the 18th century; it was equally popu lar in Holland, and potent in its effect upon Dutch dramatic literature. (E. G. ; X.)
Kyd's works were first collected and his life written by Prof. F. S. Boas in 1901. Of modern editions of The Spanish Tragedy may be mentioned that by Prof. J. M. Manly in Specimens of the Pre-Shake spearean Drama, vol. ii. (Boston, 1897) , and by J. Schick in the Tem ple Dramatists (1898). See also Cornelia (ed. H. Gassner, 1894) ; C. Markscheffel, T. Kyd's Tragodien 0885) ; Gregor Sarrazin, Thomas Kyd and sein Kreis (1892) ; G. 0. Fleischer, "Bemerkungen fiber • Thomas Kyd's Spanish Tragedy" (Jahresbericht der Drei-Konigschule zu Dresden-Neustadt) (1896) ; J. Schick, "T. Kyd's Spanish Tragedy" (Literarhistorische Forschungen, vol. 19, 1901) ; R. Koppel, in Prolss, Altengl. Theater (vol. i., 1904) ; 0. Michael, Der Stil in Thomas Kyd's Originaldramen (1905) ; C. Crawford, Concordance to the Work of Thomas Kyd (1906-1o) ; J. Schick, Die Entstehung des Hamlet (1902) ; W. Creizenach, Die Vorshakespearesche Hamlettragodie (1906); J. Fitzgerald, The Sources of the Hamlet Tragedy (19°9) ; M. J. Wolff, Zum Ur-Hamlet (1912) ; J. M. Robertson, The Problem of Hamlet