Shakespeares reference in King Lear (Act iii., Sc. iv.) may be quoted as evincing acquaintance with mildew in the 17th century, as also the interesting Rouen law of Loverdo (1660).
The work contains a large amount of information, and shows that its compilers were men of great industry; but its chief interest lies in the fact that it was largely used by Shakespeare and other Elizabethan dramatists; Shakespeare, who probably used the edition of 1587, obtaining from the Chronicles material for most of his historical plays, and also for Macbeth, King Lear and part of Cymbeline.
But Aldridge soon donned wigs and white make-up and moved on to non-black parts such as Macbeth, Shylock and King Lear.
His Declaration of Egregious Popish Impostures (1603) furnished Shakespeare with the names of the spirits mentioned by Edgar in King Lear.
He is specially famous for his splendid descriptions of scenery (The Song of Gilsbakki), his love-songs and his sarcastic epigrams. As a translator he has enriched the literature with The Arabian Nights, Sakuntala, King Lear and several other masterpieces of foreign literature.
