Alexander Dyce, A General Glossary to Shakespeare's Works

Venice — “If Cupid have not spent all his quiver in,” MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING, i. 1. 236. Long before this comedy was produced, various writers had characterized Venice as the place where Cupid“reigns and revels;” and compare Greene: “Hearing that of all the citties in Europe, Venice hath most semblance of Venus vanities . . . Because therefore this great city of Venice is holden Loues Paradice,” Neuer too late, Part Second, sig. Q 2 and Q 2 verso, ed. 1611. The publication of Coryat's Crudities, 1611, made the Venetian courtesans well known in England.