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XXIII.—American Editions of Shakespeare: 1753–1866

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2020

Extract

American criticism of Shakespeare began in 1753 with a New York woman, Charlotte Ramsay, best known as Mrs. Lennox. Until fifteen years of age she lived in America with her father, Colonel James Ramsay, Lieutenant-Governor of New York City. Thence she went to London and, being thrown upon her own resources, supported herself, both before and after marriage, by her literary labors. During her long life of eighty-four years (1720–1804) novels, poems, comedies, memoirs, and translations flowed from her prolific pen. That her intellect was of no mean order is known from Dr. Johnson's testimony. He considered her ability equal to that of Hannah More or Fanny Burney.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Modern Language Association of America, 1907

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References

page 641 note 1 One end-note to the Comedy of Errors (vol. i, pp. 383 f.) is by Steevens.

page 642 note 1 This is contrary to the Cambridge editors' statement that lordling's appears first in an edition of 1806: Cambridge ed., 1892, vol. ix, p. 404.

page 643 note 1 The writer has been unable to secure the said 1792 edition and hence cannot verify the above statement.

page 644 note 1 An asterisk denotes that the writer has not seen the edition.

page 647 note 1 The Cambridge editors wrongly assign this emendation to Verplanck (Collier's conjecture), vol. v, p. 629, 1. 13.

Verplanck, 1847 edition, vol. i, Henry VIII, p. 17: “the spavin And springhalt” and in the notes, p. 54 f., Verplanck discourses at length on the subject, favoring the reading of And.

page 647 note 2 The truth is “This Account of the Life” is exactly the same in both editions of Rowe, 1709 and 1714. The abridgment and alteration were made by Pope and first appeared in vol. i, pp. xxv-xli, of his edition of 1725.

page 649 note 1 The writer has seen only vols. 8 and 9 of this edition.

page 649 note 2 The writer has seen the 1823 and 1826 editions, not that of 1824.