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A History of the Drama in England to the Time of Shakespeare,

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BY ARTHUR GILMAN, M. A.,

9966

EDITOR OF THE COMPLETE WORKS OF GEOFFREY CHAUCER," SHAKESPEARE'S MORALS," ETC.

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AN ESSAY ON SHAKESPEARE'S INDEBTEDNESS TO THE BIBLE; A LIST OF EARLY
EDITIONS OF SHAKESPEARE'S PLAYS; AN INDEX TO NOTEWORTHY SCENES ;

AN INDEX TO ALL THE CHARACTERS; A LIST OF THE SONGS
IN THE PLAYS; AN INDEX TO FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS;

A CAREFULLY PREPARED GLOSSARY, ETC.

WITH ILLUSTRATIONS.

BOSTON:

D. LOTHROP AND COMPANY,

32 FRANKLIN STREET.

1882.

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PREFACE.

TH

HIS edition of the Complete Works of William Shakespeare derives its name from the distinguished poet and scholar, to whose graceful pen it owes the critical life of the dramatist, with which it opens. The text is that of Moxon's "Library Edition" (London), which is based upon that of the First Folio, of which Professor James Russell Lowell said: "We doubt if posterity owe a greater debt to any two men. living in 1623, than to the two obscure actors who, in that year, published the First Folio edition of Shakespeare's Plays. But for them, it is more than likely that such of his works as had remained to that time unprinted would have been irrecoverably lost, and among them were 'Julius Cæsar,' 'The Tempest,' and 'Macbeth.'. . . . It remains the only text we have with any claims whatever to authenticity."

The object of the publishers in making a new edition of Shakespeare's Works is to give the reader the most thoroughly furnished single-volume edition to be had. The well-known genius and critical acumen of Mr. Rossetti is a guarantee that his work, with which it opens, is all that can be desired. Professor Edward Dowden stands in the forefront of the new school of investigators into the Chronology of the dramatist's writings, the importance of which has so lately been appreciated, that most of the popular editions pay no regard to it.

The sketch of the Drama, by Arthur Gilman, will enable the reader to understand the position of Shakespeare in the 47882

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