February 6: Charles Lamb suggests To-days Reading (Vol. 46, pp. 73-89)

Christopher Marlowe was born this day in 1564, and the 19th century English essayist Charles Lamb is quoted in the reading guide as follows: "The reluctant pangs of abdicating royalty in 'Edward' furnished hints which Shakespeare scarcely improved in his 'Richard the Second,' and the death scene of Marlowe's King moves to pity and terror."

That death scene from Marlowe's "Edward the Second," is today's reading, and it offers more fuel to the argument that Shakespeare borrowed more than a little from Marlowe's work.