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To the other evils of our civil war muft be added the interruption of polite learning, and the fuppreffion of many dramatick and poetical names, which were plunged in obfcurity by tumults and revolu tions, and have never fince attracted curiofity. The utter neglect of ancient English literature continued fo long, that many books may be supposed to be loft; and that curiofity, which has been now for fome years increafing among us, wants materials for its operations. Books and pamphlets, printed originally in small numbers, being thus neglected, were foon destroyed; and though the capital authors were preserved, they were preserved to languish without regard. How little Shak fpeare himfelf was

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fpeare, did not amount to many more than an hundred, mained entire in the hands of the late Mr. Tonfon, till the time of his death. It does not appear that any other collection but the Harleian was at that time formed; nor does Mr. Theobald's edition contain any intrinfick evidences of fo comprehenfive an examination of our eldeft dramatick writers, as he affumes to himself the merit of having made. STEEVENS,

Whatever Mr. Theobald might venture to affert, there is fufficient evidence exifting that at the time of his death he was not poffeffed of more than 295 quarto plays in the whole, and fome of thefe, it is probable, were different editions of the fame play. He died fhortly after the 6th of September, 1744. On the 20th of October his library was advertized to be fold by auction, by Charles Corbett, and on the third day was the following lot: 295 Old English Plays in quarto, fome of them fo fcarce as not to be had at any price: to many of which are MSS. notes and remarks by Mr. Theobald, all done up neatly in boards in fingle plays. They will all be. fold in one lot." REED.

There were about five hundred and fifty plays printed before the Refloration, exclufive of those written by Shakspeare Jonfon, and Fletcher. MALONE.

once read, may be understood from Tate, who, in his dedication to the altered play of King Lear, fpeaks of the original as of an obfcure piece, recommended to his notice by a friend; and the author of the Tatler, having occafion to quote a few lines out of Macbeth, was content to receive them from D'Avenant's alteration of that celebrated drama, in which almost every original beauty is either aukwardly disguised, or arbitrarily omitted. So little were the defects or peculiaritics of the old writers

7 In the year 1707 Mr. N. Tate published a tragedy called Injured Love, or the Cruel Hufband, and in the title-page calls himfelf Author of the tragedy called King Lear."

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In a book called The Ador, or a Treatife on the Art of Playing, 12mo, published in 1750, and imputed to Dr. Hill, is the following pretended extract from Romeo and Juliet, with the author's remark on it:

The faints that heard our vows and know our love,
Seeing thy faith and thy unfpotted truth,

Will fure take care, and let no wrongs annoy thee.
Upon my kuces I'll ask them every day
How my kind Juliet does; and every night,
In the fevere diftreffes of my fate,

As I perhaps fhall wander through the defert,
“And want a place to reft my weary

head on,

I'll count the ftars, and blefs 'm as they shine,
And court them all for my dear Juliet's fafety.'

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The reader will pardon us on this and fome other occafions, that where we quote paffages from plays, we give them as the author gives them, not as the butcherly hand of a blockkead prompter may have lopped them, or as the unequal genius of fome bungling critic may have attempted to mend them. Whoever remembers the merit of the player's fpeaking the things we celebrate them for, we are pretty confident will wifh he spoke them abfolutely as we give them, that is, as the author gives them."

Perhaps it is unneceffary to inform the reader that not one of the lines above quoted is to be found in the Romeo and Juliet of Shakspeare. They are copied from the Caius Marius of Otway. STEEVENS.

known, even at the beginning of our century, that though the cuftom of alliteration had prevailed to that degree in the time of Shakspeare, that it became contemptible and ridiculous, yet it is made one of Waller's praises by a writer of his life, that he first introduced this practice into English verfification.

It will be expected that fome notice fhould be taken of the laft editor of Shakspeare, and that his merits fhould be eftimated with thofe of his predeceffors. Little, however, can be faid of a work, to the completion of which, both a large proportion of the commentary and various readings is as yet wanting. The Second Part of King Henry VI. is the only play from that edition, which has been confulted in the course of this work; for as feveral paffages there are arbitrarily omitted, and as uo notice is given when other deviations are made from the old copies, it was of little confequence to examine any further. This circumftance is mentioned, left fuch accidental coincidences of opinion, as may be difcovered hereafter, fhould be interpreted into plagiarifm.

It may occafionally happen, that fome of the remarks long ago produced by others, are offered again as recent difcoveries. It is likewife abfolutely impoffible to pronounce with any degree of certainty, whence all the hints, which furnifh matter for a commentary, have been collected, as they lay fcattered in many books and papers, which were probably never read but once, or the particulars which they contain received only in the courfe of common converfation; nay, what is called plagiarifm, is often no more than the refult of having thought alike with others on the fame subject.

The difpute about the learning of Shakspeare being now finally settled, a catalogue is added of thofe tranflated authors, whom Mr. Pope has thought proper to call

The clafficks of an age that heard of none.

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*

The reader may not be displeased to have the Greek and Roman poets, orators, &c. who had been rendered acceffible to our author, expofed at one view; efpecially as the lift has received the advantage of being corrected and amplified by the Reverend Dr. Farmer, the fubftance of whofe very decifive pamphlet is interfperfed through the notes which are added in this revifal of Dr. Johnson's Shakspeare.

To thofe who have advanced the reputation of our poet, it has been endeavoured, by Dr. Johnfon, in a foregoing preface, impartially to allot their dividend of fame; and it is with great regret that we now add to the catalogue, another, the confequence of whofe death will perhaps affect not only the works of Shakspeare, but of many other writers. Soon after the first appearance of this edition, a disease, rapid in its progrefs, deprived the world of Mr. Jacob Tonfon; a man, whofe zeal for the improvement of English literature, and whose liberality to men of learning, gave him a juft title to all the honours which men of learning can beftow. To fuppofe that a perfon employed in an extensive trade, lived in a flate of indifference to lofs and gain, would be to conceive a character incredible and romantick; but it may be juftly faid of Mr. Tonfon, that he had enlarged his mind beyond

* See Vol. II.

folicitude about petty loffes, and refined it from the defire of unreasonable profit. He was willing to admit those with whom he contracted, to the just advantage of their own labours; and had never learned to confider the author as an under-agent to the bookfeller. The wealth which he inherited or acquired, he enjoyed like a man confcious of the dignity of a profeffion fubfervient to learning. His domeftick life was elegant, and his charity was liberal. His manners were foft, and his conversation: delicate; nor is, perhaps, any quality in him more to be cenfured, than that referve which confined his acquaintance to a fmall number, and made his example lefs ufeful, as it was lefs extenfive. He was the last commercial name of a family which will be long remembered; and if Horace thought it not improper to convey the SosII to pofterity; if rhetorick suffered no difhonor from Quintilian's dedication to TRYPHO; let it not be thought that we difgrace Shakspeare, by appending to his works the name of TONSON.

To this prefatory advertisement I have now fubjoined a chapter extracted from the Guls Hornbook, (a fatirical pamphlet written by Decker in the year 1609) as it affords the reader a more complete idea of the cuftoms peculiar to our ancient theatres, than any other publication which has hitherto fallen in my way. See this performance, page 27.

8 This addition to Mr. Steevens's Advertisement was made in 1778. MALONE.

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