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The dramatick writings of Will. Shakspere, (1788)
The dramatick writings of Will Shakspere - 1788 Author:William Shakespeare Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: quently been exhibited on the stage; and expresses a hope, that King Henry V. may, for their sake, meet with a favourable reception ; a plea, which he scarcely w... more »ould have urged, if he had not been their author. 6. THE TIVO GENTLEMEN OF VERONA, 1593. This comedy was not entered on the books of the Stationers-Company till 1623, at which time it was first printed j but is mentioned by Meres in 1598, and bears strong internal marks of an early composition. 7. THE WINTER'S TALE, 1594. The Winter's Tale was, perhaps, entered on the Stationers' books, May 22, 1594, under the name of A Wynter fyg/it's Pastime; which might have been the same play- It is observable that Shakspere has two other similar titles;—Twelfth Night, and A Mid- s.immer Night's Dream: and it appears that the titles of his plays were sometimes changed; thus, All's Well that Ends Well, we have' reason to think, was called Loves Labour Won : and Hamlet was sometimes called Hamlet's Revenge, sometimes The History of Hamlet. However, it must not be concealed, that The Winter's Tale is not enumerated among our author's plays, by Meres, in 1598 : a circumstance which, yet, is not decisive to shew that it was not then written ; for neither is Hamlet nor King Henry VI. mentioned by him. Greene's Dorastus and Fawnia, from which the plot of this play is borrowed, was published in 1588. Tke chapter{Section 4The Winter's Tale was acted at court in the beginning of the year 1613 . It was not printed till 1623. Mr. Walpole thinks, that this play was intended by Shakspere as an indireft apology for Anne Boleyn ; and considers it as a Second Part to K. Henry VIII. My respeft for that very judicious and ingenious writer, the silence of Meres, and the circumstance of there not being one rhyming couplet throughout th...« less