10.03 30 nov. 08 PREFACE THE Essays contained in this volume I am editing are almost entirely founded on the MSS. and notes of a deceased relative. They are the work of an author of culture, of high classical attainments, a traveller and a man of the world. They do not profess to be more than their name implies: a criticism of Shakespeare and his works, and not of the drama of the Elizabethan era; nor do they endeavour to compete with the writings of the learned and able men who in these days have devoted themselves to the study of our greatest poet. Before the Public Service took me away to the wildest of foreign lands, I was myself an ardent student of Shakespeare, and therefore I was indeed deeply interested when I read these Essays, which in general accorded so completely with my views, though in minor points I occasionally hesitated to accept them. They came into my hands in a very disordered state, and I fear that although I have taken great pains in arranging them they are still not as presentable as I had hoped. Perhaps the general reader may think as I do that he would rather be aided by the opinions and criticisms AS2154 |