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INTRODUCTION.

Nash's "CHOISE OF VALENTINES" has apparently come down to us only in
manuscript form. It is extremely doubtful (Oldys notwithstanding[a]),
whether the poem was ever before accorded the dignity of print. Nor
would it now be deemed worthy of such were the only considerations
those of literary merit or intrinsic value: truth to tell there is
little of either to recommend it. But, as it has been repeatedly said,
and well insisted on, the world cannot afford to lose any "document"
whatsoever which bears, or _may_ bear, in the slightest degree, on the
story of its own growth and development, and out of which its true
life has to be written. Especially is even the meanest Elizabethan of
importance and value in relation to the re-construction--still far
from complete--of the life and times of the immortal bard of Avon. In
the most unlikely quarters a quarry may yet be found from which the
social historian may obtain a valuable sidelight on manners and
customs, the philologist a new lection or gloss, or the antiquary a
solution to some, as yet, unsolved problem.

"The Choise of Valentines" claims attention, and is of value
principally on two grounds, either of which, it is held, should amply
justify the more permanent preservation now accorded this otherwise
insignificant production. In the first place, it appears to have been
dedicated to the Earl of Southampton, the generous patron of letters,