PUBLISHED BY JOHN RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE, LONDON. THREE NOTELETS on Shakespeare: I. Shakespeare in Germany; II. The Folk-lore of Shakespeare; III. Was Shakespeare a Soldier? By Wм. J. THOMS, F.S.A. post 8vo. cloth, 4s 6d The 1865 "On this subject of Shakspeare in Germany, Mr. W. J. Thoms has reprinted a paper read some years ago before the Society of Antiquaries; together with two other 'Notelets' on the Poet, Folk Lore of Shakspeare from the ATHENEUM, ad Was Shakspeare a Soldier?' from NOTES AND QERIES Not the least of Mr. Thoms's many services to English literature is the invention of that admirable word folk-lore, which appeared for the first time in these columns only a few years ago, and has already become a domestic term in every corner of the world. His illustration of Shakspeare's knowledge of this little world of fairy dreams and legends is a perfect bit of criticism. He answers the query as to Shakspeare having seen martial service in the affirmative; and therein we think his argument sound, his conclusion right. These 'Notelets' were very well worthy of being collected into a book."-Athenæum. NOTICES illustrative of the Drama, and other popular Amusements, chiefly in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, incidentally illustrating Shakespeare, and his Contemporaries; extracted from the Chamberlain's Accounts and other Manuscripts of the Borough of Leicester, with an Introduction and Notes by WILLIAM KELLY, post 1865 8vo. cloth, 9s Large Paper Copies in 4to. only 25 printed, half morocco, Roxburghe style, £1. 5s 1864 SHAKESPEARE'S Coriolanus. Edited with Notes and Preface, by F. A. LEO, with a quarto fac-simile of the Tragedy of Coriolanus, from the folio of 1623, photolithographed by A. BURCHARD, and with Extracts from North's Plutarch, 4to. elegantly printed, cloth extra, 15s REPRINTS of Scarce Pieces of Shakespeare Criticism: No. I. "Remarks on the Tragedy of Hamlet, London, 1736," fcap. 8vo. sewed, 1s 6d 1864 AN HISTORICAL Account of the New Place, the Residence of Shakespeare at Stratford-on-Avon, by J. O. HALLIWELL, Esq., F.R.S., folio, many engravings, cloth, £3. 3s 1864 This work contains a minute history of New versus Wit-Combats; Auxiliary Forces-Beaumont and Fletcher, Marston, Decker, Chapman, and Webster, post 8vo. 4s 1864 WHELER'S Historical Account of the Birth-place of Shakespeare, reprinted from the edition of 1824, with a few prefatory remarks by J. O. HALLIWELL, 8vo. front. 1s 6d 1863 SHAKSPEARE: his Times and Contemporaries, by GEORGE MARKHAM TWEDDELL, SECOND EDITION ENLARGED, Parts, 1, 2, 3, (to be completed in 10) 6d each 1863-4 THE FOOTSTEPS of Shakespeare, or a Ramble with the Early Dramatists; containing new and interesting Information respecting Shakespeare, Lyly, Marlowe, Greene, and others, post 8vo. cloth, 5s 6d 1861 "The reader will not be surprised to find this an amusing, if not an instructive book. Much of the matter resulting from hunting out the footsteps of Shakespeare among his contemporaries, and the mutual allusions to each other, are far too fanciful; but the volume is well worth an hour's reading, although it is written in a far too familiar and colloquial a style."-Birmingham Journal. A CRITICAL Examination of the Text of Shakespeare; together with Notes on his Plays and Poems, by the late W. SIDNEY WALKER, edited by W. Nanson Lettsom, 3 vols. fcap. 8vo. 1860 cloth, 18s "Very often we find ourselves differing from Mr. Walker on readings and interpretations, but we seldom differ from him without respect for his scholarship and care. His are not the wild guesses at truth which neither gods nor men have stomach to endure, but the suggestions of a trained intelligence and a chastened taste. Future editors and commentators will be bound to consult these volumes, and consider their suggestions." Athenæum. "A valuable addition to our Philological Literature, the most valuable part being the remarks on contemporary literature, and the mass of learn SHAKESPEARE'S EDITORS AND COMMENTATORS BY THE REV. W. R. ARROWSMITH, INCUMBENT OF OLD ST. FANCRAS. LONDON: J. RUSSELL SMITH, 36, SOHO SQUARE. 1865. PR2965 A7 1865 MAIN UNIV. OF CHAPTER I In a letter to Nicholas Okes the printer, inserted at the end of Heywood's "Apology for Actors," a treatise published in 1612, speaking of William Jaggard the writer observes, "The infinite faults escaped in my booke of Britaines Troy by the negligence of the printer, as the misquotations, mistaking of syllables, misplacing half lines, coining of strange and never heard of words, these being without number, when I would have taken a particular account of the Errata, the printer answered me, hee would not publish his owne disworkmanship, but rather let his owne fault lye upon the necke of the author." Now, whatever reason Heywood had to feel himself aggrieved, a comparison of his Troja Britannica,* * Mr. Dyce appears not to be acquainted with this poem of Heywood's, or he would hardly have ventured the bold assertion: "I have therefore not the slightest doubt that wherever 'statue' occurs, while the metre requires three syllables, it is an error for 'statua.' Our old poets no more thought of using 'statue' as a trisyllable than 'stature,' a third form of the word which is not unfrequently found." Note 102. P. 217 of Vol. 5. Ed. 1864. For, notwithstanding Heywood's fretful outburst at his printer's carelessness and selfish perversity, "statue" never occurs in the Troja Britannica as a trisyllable, but it has the diæresis, e.g. : €45387 A 2 |