If, as we believe, the first and greatest qualifications for an editor of
Shakspeare be love for his author and a thorough appreciation of his
beauties, Mr. Charles Knight may well come forward once more in that
character. And, as he well observes, the fact of his having laboured for
many years in producing a body of Commentary on Shakspeare, so that he was,
out of the necessity of its plan, compelled not to miss any point, or slur
over any difficulty, renders him not the less fitted for the preparation of
an edition which is intended to be "The People's Shakspeare." The first
volume of this edition, which he calls _The Stratford Shakspeare_, is now
before us. It comprises the "Facts connected with the Life and Writings of
Shakspeare," and the "Notice of Original Editions," and a most valuable
shilling's worth it is. And there can be little doubt that, if Mr. Knight
realises his intentions of suiting the present work to the wants of the
many, by his endeavours, without any elaborate criticism, to unravel the
difficulties of a plot, to penetrate the subtlety of a character, and to
show the principle upon which the artist worked, the present will be the
crowning labour of his many praiseworthy endeavours to place a good edition
of the works of our great dramatist within the reach of all.
"Who speak the tongue
That Shakspeare spake."
We cannot better show the utility and interest of _The Autograph
Miscellany; a Collection of Autograph Letters, Interesting Documents, &c.,
selected from the British Museum, and other sources Public and Private_,
than by stating the contents of the first number, which certainly contains
admirable lithographic facsimiles of--I. Queen Elizabeth's Letter to the
House of Commons in answer to their Petition respecting her Marriage; II.
Letter from Catherine de Medici; III. Wren's Report on the Design for the
Summit of the City Monument; IV. Letter from Rubens on the Defeat of the
English at Rochelle. Their execution is certainly most creditable to the
artist, Mr. F. Netherclift.
BOOKS RECEIVED.--_The Works of Joseph Addison, with Notes by Dr. Richard
Hurd, Bishop of Worcester, in Four Volumes, with Engravings, Vol. I._ This
is the first of a new, cheap, and well-printed edition of Hurd's _Addison_,
and forms one of Mr. Bohn's new series of _British Classics_.--_The
Russians of the South_, by Shirley Brooks, the 53rd Part of Longman's
_Traveller's Library_, is a very lively and amusing little volume. It would
have been read with interest at any time, but is especially deserving of
attention at the present moment.
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