“ The truth is that the sea coast of Bohemia, generally supposed to have been a mere creature of fancy and imagination, once was a reality. It is true that, at the present day, Bohemia, situated as is in the heart of Europe, does not touch the sea anywhere, and owns no seaports of her own; in her days of glory, however, under the King Přemysl Otokar II., she really had a sea coast and harbors on the Adriatic. ”

“ The critics have known Bohemia as a continental country, hundreds of miles away from the sea, and Shakespeare has therefore been adjudged guilty of ignorance of geography. The “sea coast of Bohemia” has given rise to a large amount of fruitless speculation, the disputants not being sufficiently acquainted with Bohemian history. Says Mr. Jaycox in Bentley’s:
“Voltaire, and critics like Voltaire, have made a mock at Shakespeare’s geography, in giving Bohemia a sea coast. Little boys on a very low form indeed can join in the laughing chorus. ”