The Thomas Preston whose name appears on the title page and in the colophon of the first quarto edition of Cambises has been traditionally identified as the distinguished academic of the University of Cambridge who, after study at Eton, entered King's College in 1553 and became a fellow there in 1556, earning a B.A. in 1557 and an M.A. in 1561. When Queen Elizabeth visited Cambridge in 1564, he acted in a performance of Dido which she attended, disputed before her with a redoubtable Puritan, Thomas Cartwright, and addressed her in a Latin oration on her departure. She invited him to kiss her hand and gave him a pension of £20 a year with the title of "her scholar." He became proctor of the university in 1565, began the study of civil law in 1572, and proceeded to the degree of LL.D. four years later. He left in 1581 and seems to have joined...