The articles treat of varied aspects of Shakespearean drama, its
influences and traditions, but I think that all may be credited with
sufficient unity of intention to warrant their combination in a single
volume. Their main endeavour is to survey Shakespearean drama in
relation to modern life, and to illustrate its living force in current
affairs. Even in the papers which embody researches in sixteenth- or
seventeenth-century dramatic history, I have sought to keep in view
the bearings of the past on the present. A large portion of the book
discusses, as its title indicates, methods of representing Shakespeare
on the modern stage. The attempt is there made to define, in the light
of experience, the conditions which are best calculated to conserve or
increase Shakespeare's genuine vitality in the theatre of our own day.

In revising the work for the press, I have deemed it advisable to
submit the papers to a somewhat rigorous verbal revision. Errors have
been corrected, chronological ambiguities due to lapse of time have
been removed, passages have been excised in order to avoid repetition,
and reference to ephemeral events which deserve no permanent chronicle
have been omitted. But, substantially, the articles retain the shape
in which they were originally penned. The point of view has undergone
no modification. In the essays dealing with the theatres of our own
time, I have purposely refrained from expanding or altering argument
or illustration by citing Shakespearean performances or other
theatrical enterprises which have come to birth since the papers were
first written. In the last year or two there have been several
Shakespearean revivals of notable interest, and some new histrionic
triumphs have been won. Within the same period, too, at least half a
dozen new plays of serious literary aim have gained the approval of
contemporary critics. These features of current dramatic history are
welcome to playgoers of literary tastes; but I have attempted no