ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN Production Note Project Unica Rare Book & Manuscript Library University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign 2015 [.December 1, 1802, PROSPECTUS OF A NEW EDITION OF S-H A KSPE ARE’S P LA YS, Printed from the Text of the Corrected Edition left ly the late Mr. Steevfns, and now in the Press.] WITH A SERIES OF ELEGANT COPPERPLATE ENGRAVINGS, FROM ORIGINAL DESIGNS; BY HENRY FUSELI, ESQ. R. A. PROFESSOR OF PAINTING. AND A SELECTION OF EXPLANATORY AND HISTORICAL NOTES, FROM THE MOST EMINENT COMMENTATORS ; A HISTORY OF THE STAGE, A LIFE OF SIIAKSFEARE, &C. BY ALEXANDER CHALMERS, A. M. LONDON; PRINTED FOR F. AND C. RIVINGTON, NO. 62, ST. PAUL’S church-yard; J. Johnson, R. Baldwin, H. L. Gardner, W. J. and J. Richardson, J. Nicholi and Son, T. Payne, R. Faulder, G. and J. Robinson, W. Lowndes, G. Wilkie, J Scatcherd, T. Egerton, J. Walker, W. Clarke and Son, J. Barker and Son, D. Ogilvy and Son, Cuthell and Martin, R. Lea, P. Macqueen, J. Nunn, Lack-ington, Allen and Co, T. Kay, J. Deighton, J. White, Vernor and Hood, D. Walker, Longman and Rees, Cadell and Davies, Murray and Highley, T. Hurst, J. Harding, R. H. Evans, J, Mawman, Black and Parry, and J. Sharpe, C. Baldwin, Printer, Hew Bridge-streeta London*CONDITIONS. 1. It is proposed to publish this work in numbers, each number to contain one play, and an engraving : and the whole to be comprised in about thirty-eight, but not exceeding forty numbers, making eight volumes, OCTAVO. 2. The First Number, containing the Tempest, will be published on the First of January, 1803 ; and the succeeding numbers every fortnight. 3. At thp close of the work will be given A Life of Shakspeare; to which will be prefixed a finely engraved Head, Dr. Johnson’s celebrated preface, See. 4. The work will be printed upon an elegant new type, and superfine woven demy paper, at two shillings each number.—A superior edition will be printed on an > Extra Royal woven paper, hot-pressed, with first ipi- e pressions of the plates, and sold at four shillings each c< number. 5. It is presumed that this Edition being undertaken by the Proprietors of Johnson and Steevens’ Shakspeare, will be an acceptable pledge to the publick for the accuracy of its contents, and the certainty of its completion. It will also have the peculiar advantage of being printed from the Text of the Corrected Copy left by the late Mr. Steevens, now printing, and which will shortly be published, by the Proprietors of this Edition, in twenty-one volumes, medium octav». , lfe.s, SfoneJu/i tlA ns O07« 0 vicott 7H T ADDRESS. t- tf\ Jr &- !-V Notwithstanding the variety of editions of Shakspeare which have of late years been presented to the Publick, and which have their respective merits, it has been thought that one upon the plan now offered would be highly acceptable to a great proportion of readers, without attempting to injure, or being liable to suffer by comparison. While it is universally acknowledged that the voluminous edition of Johnson and Steevens affords a mass of information which seems to preclude all future labours, it cannot be denied that from the necessary circumstances of size and price, it is restricted in its circulation, and therefore limited in its utility. However copious in critical illustration, and fertile in authorities and references, such amplitude of comment, and such extension of inquiry, seem fitted rather to the congenial spirit of learned research, than to the more moderate expectations of the general reader. Influenced by these considerations, the Proprietors have been induced to offer to the Publick an edition of our immortal Bard, illustrated by a Selection of the most important and interesting notes which the labours of the various commentators have accumulated. Informing this Selection, the object will be to separate the conjectural from the decisive explanations and amendments, to leave the reader under no difficulty which investigation has removed, and to furnish every information that is necessary to a knowledge of the text, or of the history of the play. Whatever regards questions of taste or emendation, will be retained, but the prescribed limits of an edition strictly useful, and easy to be consulted, in which what is wanted may be found without effort, and comprehended without studv, must necessarily exclude the elaborate contests of critics, and the prolix quotations from authorities in support of their opinions. These, although useful for occasional reference, and honourable to the industry and judgment of the gentlemen who have devoted their time to the( iv ) purification of the text, are obstructions in the way of the o-eneral reader, until they can be brought to a decision which may in few words convey some useful information. The proposed Selection, therefore, may, it is hoped, be made without derogating from the praise so justly due to the abilities and zeal of our commentators; and without lessening the reverence by which they were led to bestow so much pains on the works of an author who cannot be celebrated beyond reason, nor blamed without respect. It is honourable to the nation which gave him birth, that it has encouraged every legitimate and accurate transmission of his works; and has patronized the most splendid forms in which they have been conveyed to posterity. The Text of the present Edition will be that of the corrected Copy left by the late Mr. Steevens, and now printing by the same Proprietors in twenty-one volumes medium octavo; and which, by repeated collattons, and every mode of critical investigation, has been made to approach the-nearest to its original state. It appears, indeed, from the many alterations and improvements in Mr. Stee-vens’s corrected copy, to be now fixed beyond the hope, or at least the probability, that any future discoveries will be able to add much to its purity. The obscurities, however, which yet remain, and the doubts which have not yet been resolved, will be stated in the notes, to prevent the reader from being ashamed of not understanding what the pro-foundest critics have been hitherto unable to explain. With these advantages of the present edition will be combined, besides the attractions of type and paper, the superior embellishments of a series of engravings from original draiV'-ings made by Mr. Fuseli, an artist who, with a critical knowledge of the text, has been justly celebrated for that originality of conception, and those bold and wild graces which seem best calculated to illustrate the various imagery and magic combinations of Shakspeare. C. Baldwin, Printer, New Bridge-street, London« ^ o*>c | f\ K ¿jtlUAA. u>