The First Edition of Pericles and the Poems was published in 1866. The First Editions of the reprints of the early quartos

appeared in the years 1863-1866.

Second Edition 1893. Reprinted 1895.

CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY J. AND C. F. CLAY,

AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.

PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.

PERICLES, PRINCE OF TYRE, was first published, in Quarto, in the year 1609, with the following title-page:

THE LATE, | And much admired Play, | Called | Pericles, Prince | of Tyre. With the true Relation of the whole Historie, | aduentures, and fortunes of the said Prince: | As also, | The no lesse strange, and worthy accidents, | in the Birth and Life, of his Daughter | MARIANA. | As it hath been diuers and sundry times acted by his Maiesties Seruants, at the Globe on the Banckside. By William Shakespeare. | Imprinted at London for Henry Gosson, and are to be sold at the signe of the Sunne in | Paternoster row, &c. | 1609. |

Another edition was issued in the same year. As the title-pages are absolutely identical, it has hitherto been supposed that there was but one edition, and that the discrepancies between the copies were due to printers' corrections made while the sheets were passing through the press. A careful examination of the different copies has however convinced us that there were two distinct editions, and certain minute indications have enabled us to decide which of the two was the earlier. This we call Q1. The second we term Q. We have consulted three copies of Q1; which are found in the Bodleian, the Capell Collection, and the British Museum. The last is marked in the catalogue C. 12. h. 5. Of Q2 we have collated two copies, one in the Duke of Devonshire's library and one in the British Museum, marked C. 34. k. 36.

VOL. IX.

b

Another copy of Pericles 1609 is in the Public Library at Hamburg. From a sample of the various readings given in a note by M. Tycho Mommsen, in the preface to his reprint of Wilkins' Novel, we recognize it as a copy of Q

Besides these, we know of no other copies of the two editions of 16091.

There is also in the British Museum (C. 34. k. 37) a unique copy of an edition in Quarto dated 1611, which formerly belonged to Mr Halliwell. The title-page is as follows:

THE LATE, | And much admired Play, | Called | Pericles, Prince | of Tyre. With the true Relation of the whole History, | aduentures, and fortunes of the sayd Prince: | As also, The no lesse strange, and worthy accidents, | in the Birth and Life, of his Daughter | MARIANA. | As it hath beene diuers and sundry times acted by | his Maiestyes Seruants, at the Globe on the Banck-side. | By VVilliam Shakespeare. | Printed at London by S. S. 1611. |

This we call Q. It is printed from a copy of the second Quarto. Two leaves containing part of the second Act are wanting. It is so extremely ill printed, especially in the latter part, that it is in many cases impossible to determine with certainty the punctuation and even the reading.

The Quarto of 1619, our Q., of which there are two copies in the British Museum and one in the Capell Collection, has the following title-page :

THE LATE, And much admired Play, | CALLED, | Pericles, Prince of Tyre. | With the true Relation of the whole Hi- | story, aduentures, and fortunes of the saide Prince. | Written by w. SHAKESPEARE. Printed for T. P. 1619.

The signatures of this edition are a continuation of those of 'The Whole Contention &c.,' published without date but by the same publisher, shewing that the two plays originally formed part of the same volume. See Vol. v. of the present work, Pref. pp. ix. x.

1 It is now known that a copy of Q1, which formerly belonged to Mr George Daniel, is in Mr Huth's library. [W. A. W.]