Bel-vedére; or The Garden of the Muses is an early modern printed commonplace book containing an anthology of nearly 4,500 short verse quotations arranged under topical headings. The book first appeared in 1600 and a second edition was published in 1610. It is of exceptional importance for the early historical reception of early modern authors such as William Shakespeare, Edmund Spenser, and Christopher Marlowe (whose verse it includes); for the late Elizabethan practice of commonplacing; for the rising status of English literature (including dramatic literature); and for early modern...