Sentinel of the valley. [volume] (Woodstock, Va) 1841-1848, 1844-06-27
A New Era Of yLal MfGre IN Aneriea

VIC" ft"Stfofed EGft3Gm Of
the Bdrd Of ,4con, ea.er pqbliSbed
Edited By the HON. CULLEN
| G.. FERPL,4NCK.
{ ROBT, ". WEIR, Esq +, will design. Sc.
ect. aud strange. the Illustrations of which
there ~lll be about l4CO, executed on,Wood
IN the rer,' best style Of the modern school of
that art :.
In Submitting The Prospectus Of the Editor
o The public. the Peblisher has only to add
'hatE he viii spare neither expense nor pains
70 make this edition.of the Worlds Poet. .su
Periorto any that has heretofore appcareel-4
N illustrations Typography and paper The
torn wifi be rosal octave. and will be iss,led
IN weekly parts. price loJ cents, which pla.
ces 1t within the means Of persons of .ahe
most United fortunes, whilst on. account of
IT'S Pecuh r beauty it will gain itselfa dmis-
SION into the libraries of The rich, and,there
prove to be one of the choicest ornaments
Those tho wish this work in tina most per.
lec' State Will only be sure Of It by taking
me Paf's as they appear, which will contain
the early proofs OF the Engravinps.
| The Tragedy of Hamlet is now in nress
| The tirst part was issued in March.
PROSPECTUS.
The PicToHIAL and ILLusrRArrp Editions
OF SHAEsrEARE, lately published in England,
are amongst the most beautiful specimens Of
| the recent ard remarkable Improvement, of
[ The art OF Wood Engraving, which by combi
/ mig great excellence of execution with econ~
ony OF price, has given an, unprecedented
| diffusion to the most useful as well as the most
! exquisite productions Of the Arts of Design
The designs OF KENNT MEADOWS for the IL
natratlon OF Tyas' edition Of Shakespeare. ex
press the character of he several personapes
and the spirit of the scene, with wonderful
j truth aud power; whilst the wood engrayiro
! of Knights Pictorial edition, combine with the
! highest merits Of art and taste, such a learned
! and minute accuracy as TO scenery, costume.
architecture and antiquity, as to make Them
I perpetual and most instructive commentary
upon the Poets text 1t is NOW proposed 10
embody in an American EDITION, the admi-
| rable Illustrations of both these editions, en-.
! graved with equal excellence of mechanical
! execution, to adp to these, ether eneravings
! from eminent artists, as REYNOLDS, Fusei, s.
Newton, &c,,,and to accompany tdem with
beautifully printed and correct text
But the publisher, anxious that his country
! should pay some part of the homage due from
her to the greatest of Poets, as to one who be.
longs not solely to England, but to all
WHO speak the tongue
| That Shakespeare spake, -
Could not content himself with mere repub.
hcaticn or. compilation. He has therefore
prevailed upon r. w. WEIR, whose reDuta.
ton as an Artist is already identified with his
country's history, to contribute series Of Orr.
ginal Designs, together with sucl advice and
assistance in other details of art, as his taste
may suggest, for the illustration and embel.
lshment of this publication. From the same
reason. the publisher, instead of re printing
the text and commentary of any popular En-.
glish impress ion, was DESTROYS that his Edition
should have the, supervision of an American
Editor. This task has been undertaken by
CUBAN G. VERPLANCK. .:
The plan proposed to l.nnseIf By the Edit.
or, is TO furnish the reader with a carefully
prepared and accurately printed text, unen-
numbered by any notes or comments upon
the page itself, as however useful they may
be elsewhere, they are too apt to divert the
mind from the power of the Poets thought,
and to disturb the magic of his scene Sncli
notes as may be thought useful for the exnla.
nation or criticism Of the text, Will be put in
to an Appendix TO each play.
I The text OF Shakspeare's dramatic works:
drawn from old printed copies in his age,
which had never passed under the authors
own eye. was consequently di.fgured BY ma.
nv errors and absurdities 1t passed during
the last century through succession of vary
ing editions until the revision of Stevens and
Malone, whose text Cor rather that of Ste
/ yens.) has become the standard. from which
most Of the English aud American editions
have been printed, with various degrees of
accuracy. But within the last twenty wears, q
Tore minute and familiar acquaintance with
| old English idioms, habits and modes of thos:
! guided by an intense and constantly increat.
/ ing admiration for Shakspeare's genius. has
/ led TO the strong conviction that very many of
| the numerous though slight deviations from
the ancient text, appearing in modern editions,
are useless or erroneous interpretations, some
times weakening the sense, and often substi
tuting an arbitrary monotonous, metrical reeu-
larlty, TO the Poets own native melody Ac-
cordmgly, very many of these ernendations
have been rejected by the last and best En-
ghsh editors, especially Mr.. Knight and Mr..
! Collier, and the readings of the Old fplios aid
quartos have been restored, unless where
some error OF the press or manuscript was I'm
| deniably manifest. Yet there are many such
| passages confessedv corrupt, and requiring
conlectural emendatons: there are also df-
ferences of reading betMcen the several old
| impressions affording grounds for some diver
| sity of teYtand warm controversy, between
I the more recent editors.
Upon these, the American editor thinks it
due to tle character of this edition, 10 decide
for himself, without. implicitly following the
text of aoy ono modern edition. AS the in
dusry and learning OF prior editors have fur
nisheti the collation. Of various readings. and,
the authorities upon which they NAV be sup
ported, the task is no longer that of laborious
investigation, but, rs it were of judicial de-
cision, enlightened BY contendng argun,enk.Fs
AS ''lary OF theSs variations arc 81 nearly
doubtless Che authors own aitera,ions'at d;f.
terent periods. all fe more important read.
ngs vii be preFented to the reader in The
notes Tor h's lection Those notes will al
50 contain 50 much of commentary as may be
ose'"' 70 explain antiquated words and phra.
seS, ohsrurely expressed. passages. and aim.
SONS 70 obsolete opinions Or the habits or his
'orf OF the tunes; the whole in as condensed
form as practicable. But any commentary
upon Shakespeare, however brief. would be
imperfect It 1t did not present some view of
tNe Imp her criticism -.