Page:The Plays of William Shakspeare (1778).djvu/88

To the other evils of our civil war muſt be added the interruption of polite learning, and the ſuppreſſion of many dramatic and poetical names, which were plunged in obſcurity by tumults and revolutions, and have never ſince attracted curioſity. The utter neglect of ancient Engliſh literature continued ſo long, that many books may be ſuppoſed to be loſt; and that curioſity, which has been now for ſome years increaſing among us, wants materials for its operations. Books and pamphlets, printed originally in ſmall numbers, being thus neglected, were ſoon deſtroyed; and though the capital authors were preſerved, they were preſerved to languiſh without regard. How little Shakeſpeare himſelf was once read, may be underſtood from Tate^[1], who, in his dedication to the altered play of King Lear, ſpeaks of the original as of an obſcure piece, recommended to his notice by a friend; and the author of the Tatler, having occaſion to quote a few lines out of Macbeth, was content to receive them from D’Avenant’s altera-

republication of the ſame work, and, I hope, he did ſo, through a conſciouſneſs of its utter falſhood; for if we except the plays of the authors already mentioned, it would be difficult to diſcover half the number that were written early enough to ſerve the purpoſe for which he pretends to have peruſed this imaginary flock of ancient literature.
I might add, that the private collection of Mr. Theobald, which, including the plays of Jonſon, Fletcher and Shakeſpeare, did not amount to many more than an hundred, remained entire in the hands of the late Mr. Tonſon, till the time of his death. It does not appear that any other collection but the Harleian was at that time formed; nor does Mr. Theobald’s edition contain any intrinſic evidences of ſo comprehenſive an examination of our eldeſt dramatic writers, as he aſſumes to himſelf the merit of having made.

1. In the year 1707 Mr. N. Tate publiſhed a tragedy called Injured Love, or the Cruel Huſband, and in the title page of it calls himſelf, “Author of the tragedy called King Lear.”

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