classical scene division; as a "Works" edition it exhibits excellent
editorial and typographical treatment; it enjoys a superior general
readability advantageous to classroom use; and, finally, it contains
Moore's vindicatory preface, which, as far as an examination of
available copies shows, does not appear in other editions. Inasmuch
as the 1756 printing is somewhat late, standing between the fourth and
fifth editions of the play, a brief bibliographical account of _The
Gamester_ is offered.

The play was printed separately many times in the eighteenth century.
The first edition, in the University of Michigan copy, bears the title:
THE / GAMESTER. / A / TRAGEDY. / As it is Acted at the / _Theatre-Royal_
in _Drury-Lane_. / [rule] / ornament / [rule] / _LONDON_: / Printed for
R. FRANCKLIN, in _Russel-Street_, / _Covent-Garden_; and Sold by
R. DODSLEY, / in _Pall-Mall_. M.DCC.LIII. / The anonymity of the
titlepage is half-hearted, for the dedication to Henry Pelham is
signed "Edw. Moore." A prologue written by Garrick, an epilogue,
and the cast of the original performance precede the eighty-four page
text. Francklin and Dodsley brought out a second edition in the same
year and a fourth edition in 1755; presumably a third edition had
been issued in the interim. In 1771 a fifth and a sixth edition
appeared, and in 1776 another London edition came out. In 1784 two
more editions made an appearance, the first printed for R. Butters
(John H. Caskey, _The Life and Works of Edward Moore_, Yale Studies
in English, LXXV [New Haven, 1927], p. 174), the second printed for
a group of four booksellers--Thomas Davies, W. Nicoll, Samuel Bladon,
and John Bew. The same combination of booksellers, with W. Lowndes
taking the place of Davies, issued in 1789 an inferior reprinting of
their 1784 text. The editions of 1784 and 1789 are interesting because
they identify by inverted commas the cuts made in contemporary stage