NASH, or NASHE, Thomas, English satirist and dramatist: b. Lowestoft, Suffolk, 1567; d. 1601. He studied at Cambridge in 1586, spent some time on the Continent, and before 1588 came to London. In 1589 he pub lished his 'Anatomic of Absurditie.) In the literary warfare carried on between the Puri tans and bishops Nash took an active part in behalf of the latter. Under the pseudonym "PAsoun." he published the tracts 'A Counter cuffe Given to Martin Junior) (1589) and (Pasquil's Apo!ogle) (1590). In 1592 he issued his powerful satire on contemporary society, 'Pierce Pennilesse his Supplication to the Dive11.) His 'Christes Teares over Jerusalem' (1593) followed in repentant mood, and he affected to dismiss satire, in which, he said, he had "prodigally conspired against good houres." His notable work of picaresque fiction, The Unfortunate Traveller, or the Life of Jack Wilton' (1594) to a certain extent anticipated Defoe. Involved in a paper war with Gabriel
Harvey, who had boasted of having put him to silence, he thereupon published 'Have with you to Saffron-Walden, or Gabriel Harvey's Hunt is Up' (1596), brimming with scorn. Nash also wrote plays, in whole or in part. He completed, unsatisfactorily (1594), Marlowe's (Dido.) His 'Summers' Last Will and Testa ment' (1593), comedy, was first published in 1600. A play, 'The Isle of Dogs,) led to his imprisonment for attacks contained in it. He died having, as one epitaph put it, "never in his life paid shoemaker or tailor." Nash's per sonality was somewhat unique in Elizabethan literature. His prose was vigorous and his verses were at times those of a poet. His works were edited by Grosart (1883-85).