Liberty advocate., 1844-06-15

o,hs, dslads, Of at, ~ his Taste may sug
go, IA, the illuslfsilon and oinbollish
49,, .t dis publication. lfmn lhe same
,oa.oo, the publirhgf, instead pi reprint
ing ihs tssi aud oonmanlaty ol any
nn,ols, Hngliah impression, was desi.
,ous that hls leliiioo should hMo 'hc
sunsty,siun Of All American Edilot,.-
r6is task has beon unjsf,ahsh Ny oVb
Ian &, VERPLANCk. ,s,
Tbs plan proposed 10 himself ny The
i,l,,ot, i TO furnish tho reader WIN a
ea,s6,lly prepared aud accurately pfln'
,cd ,o,,, uncncunbsted by any notes or
comments upon the page il'el ne how
ever useful they may In elsewhere 'hey
a,o too apt TO divert the mind from The
nowot ortho Poets thoughts, aud to DIS
,utb tho magic Of his scene, Such notes
az may b. though, useful Tor the en-
nlnnntion or criticism OF the icIt, VIII ps
nu, into an Appendix TO each play
The tex, lor ShSkspc"tes dramatic
works, drawn from old printed copies
in his aye, which had never passed under
the au,hsr's own eye, was consequently
diS6rureI hy many errors and ob'urdr
ties. II passed during the as. century
through succession of varying ed' ilon'
until the revision Of Stevens nnd Malone
whose text, (or rather tina, oI Stevens,
has become the standard from wh'ci
most of the English and American ed'
tons have been printed, with various de
rrees of accuracy. But within the los
twenty years, more minute ana laml'
Jar acquaintance with old English ldIoms
habits aud modes Of thought guided b!
an iateRse and constantly increasing I'D
(, mira,ion for Shakspeare's genus, ha
led TO the strong conviction that yer!
many of the numerous though slight DC
: yiatons from the ancIeat text, appearing
, in modern edi tions, are useless or erro
t neous interpretations, sometimes weak
ening the sense, and often substituting a
arbitrary monotonous, metrical regular
tv, 10 the Poets own native melody
: Accordingly, very many Of these emer
: da,ions have been rejected by the last an
I. bes, English editors, especially Mr. knlgf
and Mr.. Collier, and the readings OF tn
old folios and quartos have been re-
,ored, unless where some error .of III
press or manuscript was undenlably mar
ifes,ed. Yet there are many such pa
sages confessedly corrupt. and requlrin
d coniectural emendatlons: there are ais
e differences OF reading between The seve
al old impressions, affording grounds c
some diversity Of text, and warm col
troversy, between the more recent ed
>, tors. . .E.. ... L.,
}. Upon these, tho Anne rican editor thinl
'' il due to the character Of this edition,
decide Iur hlusUi1, without 'mphcit
lo following the text Of any one model
d edition. As the industry and leornlr
:, Of prior editors have furnished the CO
" ~ laton Of various readings, and the a
% thorities upon which they may be su
. ported, the task is no longer that OF
= borious investigation, but, as II were,
:. = judicial decision, enlightened by conte
;, ding argument.
y AS many Of these variations are
j nearly equal probability, and as some
!. them are doubtless the authors own a
=, ,era,ions at different periods, all the mo-
" important readings will be presented
-, the reader in the notes, for his selectio
" Those notes will also contain so much
z commentary as may be useful to expla
:" :" an,iquated words and phrases, obscure
expressed passages, and illusions TO
= solete opinions, or the habits or history
- :; the times, the whole in as condensed
!" form a. practicable. But any comment
ry upon Shakespeare, however br'ei, wou
be imperfect if it did enot present sor
IL view Of the higher criticism employe
in no, on the Interpretation Of his languag
IT, but upon his thoughts, his character,
X poetry, passions, philosophy. The on
od difficulty here arises from the abuRdanc
a, the magnificent variety Of the ma,er''
Of contributed during the last half centur
u by the most brilliant minds Of Europe.
,e utill it is believed that this duty can
Of satisfactorily performed, without sw
ling he adition TO an inconvenient bul
or J. w. JEWETT, Publisher,
K a81 Broadway, New York.
" Any Editor giving the above ProsP'
he tus 10 or 12 insertions, and an occasion
r notice Of the work during its Progrs
Is viii be regularly served with the nu
h. Der. as they appear, in exchange for III
n papers. g.fi. Hasa yfi