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SCHOLARS of Renaissance English prose fiction have dealt with Robert Greene's dependence on his source texts in some detail.1 As one of the most prolific writers of popular fiction in the late sixteenth century, Greene's methods of appropriation of material from other writers and often from his own earlier work provide a crucial insight into the workings of professional writing in the period. Planetomachia (1585) is particularly interesting in this respect because of its engagement with a remarkably eclectic variety of sources, from Ptolemy's monumental Tetrabiblos, to the much-denigrated yet undeniably popular Italianate novelle.2 A learned astrological debate among the planets acts as the central frame or cornice in this text, within which the warring planets take turns to describe the malefic effects of their opponents and proceed to illustrate their claims with the inset tales. A host of additional framing material drawn from a range of Humanist texts on the debate about astronomy and judicial astrology, however, surrounds this central device. Various sources have been suggested for this impressive, if rather incongruous, display of learning. The present note will show that the references, as well as the commendatory verses prefacing the text, may be traced back to a single common source.
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