Shakespeare, 1868, abounds with misprints and other distortions of the
writer's sense; and we must abandon in some cases the hope of ever
arriving at the true readings. So it is with the miscellaneous assemblage
of dramatic productions here brought together. A great deal has been done
by a succession of editors to reduce the errors of the printer or copyist
to a minimum; but, after all, there are places where it would require the
assistance of the Sphinx to supply a chasm, or rectify a palpable
mistake.

The work, in its present state, should assuredly have some degree of
interest and worth; for it offers in one collected body the best
specimens of dramatic literature which the English language affords,
castigated and enriched by some of our best commentators and critics.

In these volumes, as now rearranged, it is trusted that very few
uncollected plays of real importance will be found wanting; but as an
enterprise of this kind can never amount to more than a _selection_, as
it purports to be, it appeared judicious, in making the choice, to give
the preference to such pieces as either illustrated the manners of the
period, or marked the gradual development of the dramatic art.

The only basis on which the present editor can rest, so far as he is
aware, the slightest claim to credit is the attention which he has
bestowed on the rearrangement of the collection as it now stands; the
conscientious and vigilant supervision of the whole matter here brought
together--prefaces, texts, and notes--and the correction of errors on the
part of his predecessors, occasioned by a variety of causes. In carrying
out even this unambitious programme, there was a fair share of labour and
difficulty, and, of course, it has involved the addition of a new crop of
notes scattered up and down the series, as well as the occasional