lier formerly edited an early drama which contains the follow

ing passage;

"Matrevers, thou

Sound proudly here a perfect point of war

In honour of thy sovereign's safe return."

Peele's Edward I.,-Dodsley's Old Plays, vol. xi. 13, ed. Collier.

But enough of the Ms. Corrector's Emendations, with their particles of golden ore and their abundant dross.

When, at the desire of Mr. Moxon, I undertook this edition of Shakespeare, with a reluctance arising from the conviction that, even if it proved not wholly unacceptable to others, it must fail to satisfy myself,-the arrangement was, that I should merely revise the text, without adding notes of any kind. But it soon became evident that, though notes explanatory of words, manners, customs, &c. might not be essentially necessary (for with such matters the reader is often as conversant as the editor17), yet notes regarding the formation of the text were indispensable. Hence it is, that an edition originally meant to be entirely free from annotation comprises a considerable quantity of notes:18—in disjoining which from the text, and placing them at the end of each play respectively, I have consulted the taste of those who have little relish for the minutiae of verbal criticism.

It was also originally understood between the publisher and myself, that I should not be required to supply the memoir of Shakespeare intended to accompany the present edition: circumstances, however, which it is needless to explain, eventually imposed on me that ungrateful task. Owing to the scantiness of materials for his history, and to our ignorance of what we most wish to know concerning him, a Life of Shakespeare, in spite of its subject, is generally among the least readable efforts of the biographer: and I cannot but

17 1863. In the above remark I have been thought to overrate the knowledge of the general reader; and hence the Glossary to the present edition. 18 1863. Now enlarged to more than double the number.

feel that, if my own memoir of the poet has any claim to another character, it is solely on account of its comparative shortness.

I have to return my best thanks to Mr. W. N. Lettsom for the extracts from the late Sidney Walker's unpublished papers on Shakespeare, as well as for his own critical remarks, with which from time to time he furnished me; to Mr. John Forster, for much kind and judicious advice on various points of difficulty; and to Mr. Singer, for his prompt assistance whenever I had occasion to request it: nor ought I to conclude without acknowledging my obligations to Mr. Robson, from whose press the present edition comes forth, not only for the care he has bestowed in revising the sheets with an eye to verbal correctness, but for innumerable suggestions during the whole progress of the work.

December 1857.

A. DYCE.

SOME ACCOUNT

OF THE

LIFE OF SHAKESPEARE.

"ALL that is known with any degree of certainty concerning Shakespeare, is-that he was born at Stratfordupon-Avon-married and had children there-went to London, where he commenced actor, and wrote poems and plays-returned to Stratford, made his will, died, and was buried." Such is the remark made long ago by one of the most acute of his commentators: and even at the present day,-notwithstanding some additional notices of Shakespeare which have been more recently discovered, the truth of the remark can hardly fail to be felt and acknowledged by all, except by professed antiquaries, with whom the mere mention of a name in whatever kind of document assumes the character of an important fact.2

1 Note by Steevens on Shakespeare's xciiid Sonnet.

"All that insatiable curiosity and unwearied diligence have hitherto detected about Shakespeare serves rather to disappoint and perplex us, than to furnish the slightest illustration of his character. It is not the register of his baptism, or the draft of his will, or the orthography of his name that we seek. No letter of his writing, no record of his conversation, no character of him drawn with any fullness by a contemporary has been produced.-Note. I am not much inclined to qualify this paragraph in consequence of the petty circumstances relating to Shakespeare

Shakespeares abounded in Warwickshire: they were settled there as early as the fourteenth century; and, soon after, they spread themselves, in various branches, through the county: but genealogical inquiry has as yet been able to throw little light on the pedigree of the dramatist. We have every reason to believe that his father, John Shakespeare, was the son of Richard Shakespeare, a substantial farmer at Snitterfield. In 1552 we find John Shakespeare resident in Henleystreet, Stratford-upon-Avon; but his employment at that period is not recorded. In 1556 he was carrying on the business of a glover.5 He did not, however, confine himself to glove-making, he was also engaged in

which have been lately brought to light, and which rather confirm than otherwise what I have said." Hallam's Introd. to the Liter. of Europe, ii. 176, ed. 1843.

3 Three miles from Stratford.-Richard Shakespeare of Snitterfield was a tenant of Robert Arden, whose daughter John Shakespeare married at Snitterfield, too, lived a Henry Shakespeare; and John Shakespeare had a brother named Henry. (Mr. Collier first offered the conjecture, that Richard Shakespeare was the poet's grandfather.)

As is shown by a Court Roll, dated April 29th, 1552, in the Carlton Ride Record Office: "Item [juratores] præsent. super sacramentum suum quod Humfrudus Reynoldes (xij.a) Adrianus Quyney (xij.d) et Johannes Shakyspere (xij.) fecerunt sterquinarium in vico vocato Hendley Strete contra ordinationem curiæ. Ideo ipsi in misericordia, ut patet."

This is proved by the following extract from the register of the proceedings of the bailiff's court;-at least, there seems to be little or no doubt that the "Johannem Shakyspere" mentioned in it was the father of the poet;

"Stretford, ss. Cur. Philippi et Mariæ, Dei gratia regis et reginæ Angliæ, Hispaniarum, &c. secundo et tercio, ibidem tent. die Marcurii, videlicet xvij die Junii, anno prædicto [1556], coram Johanni Burbage ballivo, &c.

"Thomas Siche de Arscotte in com. Wigorn. queritur versus Johannem Shakyspere de Stretford in com. Warwici glover in placito quod redd. ei octo libras," &c. (i.e. Thomas Siche brings an action against John Shakespeare glover for the sum of £8.)