has been lay'd before the reader; upon whom it refts to judge finally of its goodness, as well as how it is executed: but as feveral matters have interven'd that may have driven it from his memory; and we are defirous above all things to leave a strong impreffion upon him of one merit which it may certainly pretend to, that is it's fidelity; we fhall take leave to remind him, at parting, thatThroughout all this work, what is added without the authority of fome ancient edition, is printed in a black letter: what alter'd, and what thrown out, conftantly taken notice of; fome few times in a note, where the matter was long, or of a complex nature; but, more generally at the bottom of the page; where what is put out of the text, how minute and infignificant foever, is always to be met with; what alter'd, as conftantly fet down, and in the proper words of that edition upon which the alteration is form'd: and, even in authoriz'd readings, whoever is defirous of knowing further, what edition is follow'd preferably to the others, may be gratify'd too in that, by confulting the Various The particulars that could not well be pointed out below, according to the general method, or otherwife than by a note, are of three forts-omiffions, any thing large; tranfpofitions; and fuch differences of punctuation as produce great changes in the fenfe of a paffage: inftances of the firft occur in Love's Labour's Loft, p. 54, and in Troilus and Creffida, p. 109 and 117; of the fecond, in The Comedy of Errors, p. 62, and in Richard III. p. 92, and 102; and The Tempest, p. 69, and King Lear, p. 53, afford inftances of the laft; as may be feen by looking into any modern edition, where all thofe paffages ftand nearly as in the old ones. [ All these references are to Mr. Capell's own edition of our author.] Readings; which are now finifh'd; and will be publifh'd, together with the Notes, in fome other volumes, with all the speed that is convenient. ORIGIN OF SHAKSPEARE'S FABLES. All's well that end's well. The fable of this play is taken from a novel, of which Boccace is the original author; in whose Decameron it may be feen at p. 97.b of the Giunti edition, reprinted at London. But it is more than probable, that Shakspeare read it in a book, call'd The Palace of Pleafure: which is a collection of novels tranflated from other authors, made by one William Painter, and by him firft publifh'd in the years 1565 and 67, in two tomes, quarto; the novel now fpoken of, is the thirty-eighth of tome the firft. This novel is a meagre tranflation, not (perhaps) immedi ately from Boccace, but from a French tranflator of him: as the original is in every body's hands, it may there be feen-that nothing is taken from it by Shakspeare, but fome leading incidents of the ferious part of his play. Antony and Cleopatra. This play, together with Coriolanus, Julius Cæfar, and fome part of Timon of Athens, are form'd upon Plutarch's Lives in the articles-Coriolanus, Brutus, Julius Cæfar, and Antony: of which lives there is a French translation, of great fame, made by Amiot, bishop of Auxerre and great almoner of France; which fome few years after it's first appearance, was put into an English drefs by our countryman Sir Thomas North, and publifh'd in the year 1579, in folio. As the language of this tranflation is pretty good, for the time; and the fentiments, which are Plutarch's, breathe the genuine fpirit of the feveral historical perfonages; Shakspeare has, with much judgment, introduc'd no small number of speeches into these plays, in the very words of that tranflator, turning them into verfe: which he has fo well wrought up, and incorporated with his plays, that, what he has introduc'd, cannot be discover'd by any reader, 'till it is pointed out for him. As you like it. A novel, or (rather) paftoral romance, intitl'dEuphues' golden Legacy, written in a very fantastical ftyle by Dr. Thomas Lodge, and by him first publish'd in the year 1590, in quarto, is the foundation of As you like it: befides the fable, which is pretty exactly follow'd, the outlines of certain principal characters may be obferv'd in the novel: and fome expreffions of the novelist (few, indeed, and of no great moment,) feem to have taken poffeffion of Shakspeare's memory, and from thence crept into his play. Comedy of Errors. Of this play, the Menæchmi of Plautus is moft certainly the original: yet the poet went not to the Latin for it; but took up with an English Menæchmi, put out by one W. W. in 1595, quarto, This tranflation-in which the writer profeffes to have us'd fome liberties, which he has diftinguish'd by a particular mark, is in profe, and a very good one for the time: it furnifh'd Shakspeare with nothing but his principal incident; as you may in part fee by the tranflator's argument, which is in verfe, and runs thus: "Two twinborne fonnes, a Sicill marchant had, "The grandfire namde the latter like his brother: 66 66 Where th' other dwelt inricht, and him fo like, "Father, wife, neighbours, each miftaking either, It is probable, that the last of these verses suggested the title of Shakspeare's play. Cymbeline. Boccace's ftory of Bernabo da Ambrogivolo (Day 2, Nov. 9,) is generally fuppos'd to have furnifh'd Shakspeare with the fable of Cymbeline: but the embracers of this opinion feem not to have been aware, that many of that author's novels (tranflated or imitated,) are to be found in English books, prior to, or contemporary with, Shakfpeare: and of this novel in particular, there is an imitation extant in a story-book of that time, intitl'd-Weftward for Smelts: it is the fecond tale in the book: the fcene and the actors of it are dif ferent from Boccace, as Shakspeare's are from both; but the main of the story is the fame in all. We may venture to pronounce it a book of those times, and that early enough to have been us'd by Shakspeare, as I am perfuaded it was; though the copy that I have of it, is no older than 1620; it is a quarto pamphlet of only five fheets and a half, printed in black letter: fome reasons for my opinion are given in another place; (v. Winter's Tale) though perhaps they are not neceffary, as it may one day be better made appear a true one, by the difcovery of fome more ancient edition, Hamlet. About the middle of the fixteenth century, Francis de Belleforeft, a French gentleman, entertain'd his countrymen with a collection of novels, which he intitles-Hiftoires Tragiques; they are in part originals, part tranflations, and chiefly from Bandello: he began to publifh them in the year 1564; and continu'd his publication fucceffively in feveral tomes; how many I know not; the dedication to his fifth tome is dated fix years after. In that tome, the troifieme Hiftoire has this title; Avec quelle rufe Amleth, qui depuis fut roy de Dannemarch, vengea la mort de fon pere Horvuendille, eccis par Fengon fon frere, & autre occurrence de fon hiftoire." Painter, who has been mention'd befure compil'd his Palace of Pleafure almost entirely from Belleforeft, taking here and there a novel as pleas'd him, but he did not tranflate the whole: other novels, it is probable, were tranflated by different people, and publifh'd fingly; this, at |