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guishes, as he reasonably ought, between the real merit of the author, and the filly and derogatory applaufes of the players. Ben Jonfon might indeed be paring in his commendations (though certainly he is not fo in this inftance) partly from his own nature, and partly from judgment. For men of judgment think they do any man more fervice in praising him justly, than lavishly. I fay, I would fain believe they were friends, though the violence and ill-breeding of their followers and flatterers were enough to give rise to the contrary report. I hope that it may be with parties, both in wit and ftate, as with those monsters defcribed by the poets; and that their beads at least may have something human, though their bodies and tails are wild beasts and ferpents.

As I believe that what I have mentioned gave rife to the opinion of Shakespeare's want of learning; fo what has continued it down to us may have been the many blunders and illiteracies of the first publishers of his works. In thefe editions their ignorance fhines in almost every page; nothing is more common than Alus tertia. Exit omnes. Enter three Witches folus. Their French is as bad as their Latin, both in conftruction and fpelling: their very Welsh is falfe. Nothing is more likely than that thofe palpable blunders of Hector's quoting Ariftotle, with others of that grofs kind, fprung from the fame root: it not being at all credible that thefe could be the errors of any man who had the leaft tincture of a fchool, or the least conversation with fuch as had. Ben Jonfon (whom they will not think partial to him) allows him at least to have had fome Latin; which is utterly inconfiftent with mistakes like thefe. Nay, the constant blunders in proper names of perfons and places, are fuch as must have proceeded from a man, who had not fo much as read any history in any language: fo could not be Shakespeare's.

I fhall

I fhall now lay before the reader fome of thofe almost innumerable errors, which have risen from one fource, the ignorance of the players, both as his actors, and as his editors. When the nature and kinds of these are enumerated and confidered, I dare to say that not Shakespeare only, but Aristotle or Cicero, had their works undergone the fame fate, might have appeared to want fenfe as well as learning.

It is not certain that any one of his plays was published by himself. During the time of his employment in the theatre, feveral of his pieces were printed feparately in quarto. What makes me think that most of these were not published by him, is the exceffive careleffnefs of the prefs: every page is fo fcandaloufly falfe fpelled, and almost all the learned or unusual words fo intolerably mangled, that it is plain there either was no corrector to the prefs at all, or one totally illiterate. If any were fupervised by himfelf, I fhould fancy The Two Parts of Henry the Fourth, and Midfummer-Night's Dream might have been fo; because I find no other printed with any exactnefs; and (contrary to the reft) there is very little variation in all the fubfequent editions of them. There are extant two prefaces to the firft quarto edition of Troilus and Creffida in 1609, and to that of Othello; by which it appears, that the first was published without his knowledge or confent, or even before it was acted, so late as feven or eight years before he died: and that the latter was not printed till after his death. The whole number of genuine plays, which we have been able to find printed in his life-time, amounts but to eleven. And of fome of thefe, we meet with two or more editions by different printers, each of which has whole heaps of trafh different from the other: which I should fancy was occafioned by their being taken from different copies belonging to different play-houses.

The

The folio edition (in which all the plays we now receive as his were first collected) was published by two players, Heminges and Condell, in 1623, seven years after his decease. They declare, that all the other editions were stolen and furreptitious, and affirm theirs to be purged from the errors of the former. This is true as to the literal errors, and no other; for in all respects else it is far worse than the quartos.

First, because the additions of trifling and bombaft paffages are in this edition far more numerous. For whatever had been added, fince thofe quartos, by the actors, or had ftolen from their mouths into the written parts, were from thence conveyed into the printed text, and all stand charged upon the author. He himself complained of this ufage in Hamlet, where he wishes that those who play the clowns would speak no more than is fet down for them. (Act 3. Sc. 4.) But as a proof that he could not efcape it, in the old editions of Romeo and Juliet there is no hint of a great number of the mean conceits and ribaldries now to be found there. In others, the low fcenes of mobs, plebeians, and clowns, are vaftly fhorter than at prefent: and I have feen one in particular (which feems to have belonged to the play-houfe, by having the parts divided with lines, and the actors names in the margin) where several of those very paffages were added in a written hand, which are fince to be found in the folio.

In the next place, a number of beautiful paffages, which are extant in the firft fingle editions, are omitted in this as it seems without any other reason, than their willingness to fhorten fome fcenes: these men (as it was faid of Procruftes) either lopping, itretching an author, to make him juft fit for their itage.

or

This edition is faid to be printed from the original copies; I believe they meant thofe which had lain ever fince the author's days in the play-house, and had

from

from time to time been cut, or added to, arbitrarily. ft appears that this edition, as well as the quartos, was printed (at least partly) from no better copies than the prompter's book, or piece-meal parts written out for the use of the actors: for in fome places their very names are through careleffnefs fet down inftead of the Perfona Dramatis; and in others the notes of direction to the property-men for their moveables, and to the players for their entries, are inferted into the text through the ignorance of the tranfcribers.

The plays not having been before fo much as dif tinguished by Als and Scenes, they are in this edition divided according as they played them; often where there is no paufe in the action, or where they thought fit to make a breach in it, for the fake of mufick, mafques, or monsters.

Sometimes the scenes arc tranfpofed and fhuffled backward and forward; a thing which could no otherwife happen, but by their being taken from feparate and piece-meal written parts.

Many verfes are omitted entirely, and others tranfposed; from whence invincible obfcurities have arifen, paft the guefs of any commentator to clear up, buc juft where the accidental glimpfe of an old edition enlightens us.

Some characters were confounded and mixed, or two put into one, for want of a competent number of actors. Thus in the quarto edition of MidfummerNight's Dream, Act v. Shakespeare introduces a kind of mafter of the revels called Philoftrate; all whofe part is given to another character (that of Egeus) in the fubfequent editions: fo alfo in Hamlet and King Lear. This too makes it probable that the prompter's books were what they called the original copies.

Much Ado about Nothing, Act ii. Enter Prince Leonate, Claudie, and Jack Wilfon, initead of Balthafar. And in A&t iv. Cowley and Kemp conilantly through a whole fcene.

VOL. I.

Edit. fol. of 1623, and 1632.

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From liberties of this kind, many speeches alfo were put into the mouths of wrong perfons, where the author now seems chargeable with making them fpeak out of character: or fometimes perhaps for no better reason, than that a governing player, to have the mouthing of fome favourite speech himself, would snatch it from the unworthy lips of an underling.

Profe from verse they did not know, and they accordingly printed one for the other throughout the volume.

Having been forced to fay fo much of the players, I think I ought in justice to remark, that the judgment, as well as condition, of that clafs of people was then far inferior to what it is in our days. As then the best play-houses were inns and taverns (the Globe, the Hope, the Red Bull, the Fortune, &c.) fo the top of the profeffion were then mere players, not gentlemen of the ftage: they were led into the buttery by the steward, not placed at the lord's table, or lady's toilette: and confequently were entirely deprived of thofe advantages they now enjoy in the familiar converfation of our nobility, and an intimacy (not to fay dearnefs) with people of the firft condition.

From what has been said, there can be no question but had Shakespeare published his works himself (efpecially in his latter time, and after his retreat from the ftage) we should not only be certain which are genuine, but fhould find in thofe that are, the errors leffened by fome thousands. If I may judge from all the distinguishing marks of his ftile, and his manner of thinking and writing, I make no doubt to declare that those wretched plays Pericles, Locrine, Sir John Oldcaftle, Yorkshire Tragedy, Lord Cromwell, The Puritan, and London Prodigal, cannot be admitted as his. And I fhould conjecture of fome of the others (particularly Love's Labour's Loft, The Winter's Tale, and Titus

nicus) that only fome characters, single scenes,

or

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