PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION. IN presenting a third edition of this work to the public, the author thinks it not inappropriate to add a few observations to the preface of the first. The original edition was issued in London in 1876, by the well-known publishing house of Sampson Low & Co. It elicited a deal of comment, some of which the author has reason to be thankful for; though much of the English observation was impregnated with the tone that it was rather a piece of presumption on the part of an American to even touch a subject that ought to be considered sacred to English pens alone. Of this, however, I have no reason to complain, since I had invited the extremest dealing at English literary hands. From the French press, on the contrary, I received the kindest and most liberal treatment; and here I deem my particular thanks due for two elaborate and favorable reviews from that leviathan of its own literary waters, the Journal des Debats. In the United States, the reception of "Shakespeare, from an American Point of View," was of the most flattering character; and, indeed, may be characterized as having been unanimously favorable. Thus encouraged, the author published, in the following year (though without correction), an American edition, this time having the good fortune of the imprint of the distinguished house of Messrs. Appleton & Co. The motive for the present issue proceeds from a modification of the author's views in regard to "Evening Mass," and also from the necessity of correcting numerous typographical errors which resulted from the haste with which he was obliged to hurry through the "proofs" of the London copy. New discoveries, moreover, in the Shakespearean mine are largely answerable for this desire to leave a more complete and satisfactory volume with the public. Some of these discoveries are from Romeo and Juliet, and one of them especially may be mentioned here, as relating to the famous Nurse, who, instead of being the decrepit crone, as she is always represented on the stage, could hardly have been over twenty-five or twenty-six years of age, since Juliet, to whom she was wet nurse, died at fourteen,' when her mother, Lady Capulet, was barely twenty-eight! This final issue, we may also add, is further justified in the recent discovery, by the venerable Shakespearean critic, J. Payne Collier, of another play by Shakespeare, in which opinion the author is in full accord with him. In this connection the following personal note by Mr. Collier to the author, thanking him for the support he gave his views, is, perhaps, not out of place: RIVERSIDE, MAIDENHEAD, May 6, 1879. DEAR SIR: I am very much obliged by your judicious advocacy of my opinion regarding "The Warning for Fair Women." If I had been the first to say that Shakespeare wrote the soliloquy in "Hamlet," my enemies would have disputed it. Yours very truly, J. PAYNE COLLIER. GEORGE WILKES, Esq. 1 See "Romeo and Juliet," pp. 345-347. The former views of the author as to "Evening Mass,” inasmuch as they received a large support, and by many are still adhered to, have been transferred to the Appendix, that they may be compared with those by which they have been superseded. NEW YORK, January, 1881. G. W. |