I have not been able to give in the present volume the unpublished play
of Heywood's to which I referred in the Preface to Vol. I. When I came
to transcribe the play, I found myself baffled by the villanous scrawl.
But I hope that, with the assistance of some expert in old handwriting,
I may succeed in procuring an accurate transcript of the piece for the
fourth volume.
One of the plays here presented to the reader is printed for the first
time, and the others have not been reprinted. I desire to thank ALFRED
HENRY HUTH, Esq., for the loan of books from his magnificent collection.
It is pleasant to acknowledge an obligation when the favour has been
bestowed courteously and ungrudgingly. To my friend F.G. FLEAY, Esq., I
cannnot adequately express my gratitude for the great trouble that he
has taken in reading all the proof-sheets, and for his many valuable
suggestions. Portions of the former volume were not seen by him in the
proof, and to this cause must be attributed the presence of some slight
but annoying misprints. One serious fault, not a misprint, occurs in the
first scene of the first Act of _Barnavelt's Tragedy_ (p. 213). In the
margin of the corrected proof, opposite the lines,
"And you shall find that the desire of glory
Was the last frailty wise men ere putt of,"