What the Publick is here to expect is a true and correct Edition of
_Shakespear_’s works cleared from the corruptions with which they have
hitherto abounded. One of the great Admirers of this incomparable Author
hath made it the amusement of his leisure hours for many years past to
look over his writings with a careful eye, to note the obscurities and
absurdities introduced into the text, and according to the best of his
judgment to restore the genuine sense and purity of it. In this he
proposed nothing to himself but his private satisfaction in making his own
copy as perfect as he could: but as the emendations multiplied upon his
hands, other Gentlemen equally fond of the Author desired to see them, and
some were so kind as to give their assistance by communicating their
observations and conjectures upon difficult passages which had occurred to
them. Thus by degrees the work growing more considerable than was at first
expected, they who had the opportunity of looking into it, too partial
perhaps in their judgment, thought it worth being made publick; and he,
who hath with difficulty yielded to their perswasions, is far from
desiring to reflect upon the late Editors for the omissions and defects
which they left to be supplied by others who should follow them in the
same province. On the contrary, he thinks the world much obliged to them
for the progress they made in weeding out so great a number of blunders
and mistakes as they have done, and probably he who hath carried on the
work might never have thought of such an undertaking if he had not found a
considerable part so done to his hands.
From what causes it proceeded that the works of this Author in the first
publication of them were more injured and abused than perhaps any that
ever pass’d the Press, hath been sufficiently explained in the Preface to
Mr. _Pope_’s Edition which is here subjoined, and there needs no more to
be said upon that subject. This only the Reader is desired to bear in
mind, that as the corruptions are more numerous and of a grosser kind than
can well be conceived but by those who have looked nearly into them; so in
the correcting them this rule hath been most strictly observed, not to
give a loose to fancy, or indulge a licentious spirit of criticism, as if
it were fit for any one to presume to judge what _Shakespear_ ought to
have written, instead of endeavouring to discover truly and retrieve what
he did write: and so great caution hath been used in this respect, that no
alterations have been made but what the sense necessarily required, what
the measure of the verse often helped to point out, and what the
similitude of words in the false reading and in the true, generally
speaking, appeared very well to justify.
Most of those passages are here thrown to the bottom of the page and
rejected as spurious, which were stigmatized as such in Mr. _Pope_’s
Edition; and it were to be wished that more had then undergone the same
sentence. The promoter of the present Edition hath ventured to discard but
few more upon his own judgment, the most considerable of which is that
wretched piece of ribaldry in King _Henry V._ put into the mouths of the
_French_ Princess and an old Gentlewoman, improper enough as it is all in
_French_ and not intelligible to an _English_ audience, and yet that
perhaps is the best thing that can be said of it. There can be no doubt
but a great deal more of that low stuff which disgraces the works of this
great Author, was foisted in by the Players after his death, to please the
vulgar audiences by which they subsisted: and though some of the poor
witticisms and conceits must be supposed to have fallen from his pen, yet
as he hath put them generally into the mouths of low and ignorant people,
so it is to be remember’d that he wrote for the Stage, rude and unpolished
as it then was; and the vicious taste of the age must stand condemned for
them, since he hath left upon record a signal proof how much he despised
them. In his Play of _The Merchant of Venice_ a Clown is introduced
quibbling in a miserable manner, upon which one who bears the character of
a man of sense makes the following reflection: _How every fool can play
upon a word! I think the best grace of wit will shortly turn into silence,
and discourse grow commendable in none but parrots._ He could hardly have
found stronger words to express his indignation at those false pretences
to wit then in vogue; and therefore though such trash is frequently
interspersed in his writings, it would be unjust to cast it as an
imputation upon his taste and judgment and character as a Writer.
There being many words in _Shakespear_ which are grown out of use and
obsolete, and many borrowed from other languages which are not enough
naturalized or known among us, a Glossary is added at the end of the work,
for the explanation of all those terms which have hitherto been so many
stumbling-blocks to the generality of Readers; and where there is any
obscurity in the text not arising from the words but from a reference to
some antiquated customs now forgotten, or other causes of that kind, a
note is put at the bottom of the page to clear up the difficulty.
With these several helps if that rich vein of sense which runs through the
works of this Author can be retrieved in every part and brought to appear
in its true light, and if it may be hoped without presumption that this is
here effected; they who love and admire him will receive a new pleasure,
and all probably will be more ready to join in doing him justice, who does
great honour to his country as a rare and perhaps a singular Genius: one
who hath attained an high degree of perfection in those two great branches
of Poetry, Tragedy and Comedy, different as they are in their natures from
each other; and who may be said without partiality to have equalled, if
not excelled, in both kinds, the best writers of any age or country who
have thought it glory enough to distinguish themselves in either.
Since therefore other nations have taken care to dignify the works of
their most celebrated Poets with the fairest impressions beautified with
the ornaments of sculpture, well may our _Shakespear_ be thought to
deserve no less consideration: and as a fresh acknowledgment hath lately
been paid to his merit, and a high regard to his name and memory, by
erecting his Statue at a publick expence; so it is desired that this new
Edition of his works, which hath cost some attention and care, may be
looked upon as another small monument designed and dedicated to his
honour.