SOURCE: Tobin, J. J. M. “Gabriel Harvey: ‘Excellent Matter of Emulation.’” Hamlet Studies 7, nos. 1-2 (summer-winter 1985): 94-100.

In the following essay, Tobin argues that Shakespeare's Hamlet contains references to Harvey's A New Letter of Notable Contents and Pierce's Supererogation.

Gabriel Harvey, though clearly one of the wiser sort in his admiration for Hamlet,¹ was the luckless victim of Thomas Nashe's lampooning power in their celebrated pamphlet war. Shakespeare was a close student of their conflict and incorporated a considerable amount of material from Nashe's side of the conflict into the texture of a great many of his plays, most especially Hamlet.² However, Shakespeare was not so one-sided in his coopting enthusiasm for things Nashean as to ignore Harvey's writings for there are clear signs of borrowings from Harvey in Much Ado About Nothing, Twelfth Night,³ and, ironically enough, given Harvey's comment about the play in the margin of...