You shall see anon; 'tis a knavish piece of work." SECOND EDITION. IN TWO VOLUME S. VOL. I. Hamlet. NEW-YORK: PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, NO. 82 CLIFF STREET. 1841. Gift of Winthrop Wetherbre of Boston (2 vola) Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1835, By HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Clerk's Office of the Southern District of New-York. то COLONEL HERMAN THORN. MY DEAR SIR, The warm hospitality and generous attention which, during my ramblings in Europe, in common with many of my countrymen, I have received from you; the numerous instances which have come to my knowledge of the benevolence and kindness of your heart; your liberal encouragement of the arts; and the high estimation in which you are held abroad, induce me to offer you this simple tribute of regard and friendship. Permit me, therefore, to dedicate to you the following pages, with only a regret that they are not more worthy. I am, my dear sir, very sincerely and respectfully, your obedient servant, Paris, March 26th, 1835. THE AUTHOR. PREFACE ΤΟ THE SECOND EDITION. ON returning to New-York, after an absence of some years, I was agreeably surprised to find not a copy unsold of a large edition of this work. In presenting a second, I avail myself of the occasion to apologize for its defects, of which I am perfectly conscious. It was written with the unsettled mind of a traveller, in the stolen intervals of more imperative occupations; and circumstances, moreover, compelled me to part with it before it had received the time and care which it was my intention to bestow. It thus possesses the claims to forbearance of a painting prematurely dismissed from the easel, when the artist has but little more than marked his first rapid outlines; when the background and many of the figures are indistinct, because almost untouched; and when only the prominent heads are finished. I felt, also, as I toiled, the disadvantages of a pencil unguided by experience and uninspired by success. The book was offered to the public with great timidity; indeed, the manuscript was once laid on the fire, and only |