1. Roger Ascham, The Scholemaster, in English Works, ed. William Aldis Wright (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1904), 219. Ascham had analogous expressions of praise in his letters to Johann Sturm, not meant for public circulation, therefore possibly more reliable in terms of his estimation of Elizabeth’s intellectual abilities. See
2. The Whole Works of Roger Ascham, Vol. 1. Life, &c., and Letters, ed. J. A. Giles (London: John Russell Smith, 1865), 191, 444.
3. The letter, transcribed by Rawdon Brown in L’archivio di Venezia. Con riguardo special alla storia inglese (Venezia: Antonelli e Basadonna, 1865), 130–34, is extant in the Venice State Archive, Deliberazioni del Senato, Secreta, Filza 46, dated February 25, 1575.
4. On this last point, see Giuliana Iannaccaro’s contribution in the present volume. See also Giuliana Iannaccaro and Alessandra Petrina, “To and From the Queen: Modalities of Epistolography in the Correspondence of Elizabeth,” Journal of Early Modern Studies 3 (2014): 69–89. I wish to thank Giuliana for discussing this topic with me, and for many illuminating suggestions.
5. The whole letter is transcribed in Angelo Solerti, Vita di Torquato Tasso, vol. 2 (Torino, Roma: Loescher, 1895), 204–05.