The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-17

"r,,a pichard Mansfield Acting version
20 1-i,c Henry W. is the title of a slim,
brov,n-covered volume, with an artistic
ranroduction of King Henry's coat OF
arms m, the outside There is a very de-
cided difference between this ana some
other acting versions of Shakespeare 5
1lays. which have been put before the
public. The difference is that this play IS
edited. printed. and annotated in a way
which will make it really valuable to the
public
1t contains but two illustrations, one
portrait OF Mansfield In the character of
Henry V, and the other portrait of the
King himself There is an introduction
by Mr. Mansfield, and there are numer-
Gus notes, sensibly placed at the bottom
of the page instead of all together at
the end The latter arrangement. fol-
lowed in too many such books. reminds
one of that old work of Lord Timothy
Dexter, in which all the punctuation
points We're omitted, and four pages of
all kinds of them placed at the end, with
directions to the reader to pepper and salt
to suit himself
The introduction is a new proof of the
essentially literary character of Mans
fields work. He is never simply an actor
He IS author, Iitterateur, artist, musician
and as much of as many other things as
may be necessary to his aim; but he is
above all the book lover and the student
4 part OF the introduction runs as fol-
lows, and clearly shows this:
You Will note that Henry is COM
mencing to exhibit the many sides of
a very versatile character. In the first
act he was not at ali what he was in
the second, and now in the third we
have him again in two different roles;
first, as the brilliant captain and mag
netic leader of men. and then as a
very willy and eloquent pleader. for he
infuses such terror into the minds of
the citizens that they are moved to
surrender the town then and there, in
stead of prOtr3cting the Siege-a course
which might have been fatal to Henry.
Indeed, throughout this work We find
Henry constantly SWaying men by his
reasoning and his powers of elOquence.
He very rarely throws aside the man
tie Of the King and the manner Of the
good fellow and cOmradf until the
opportunity occurs In the fourth act.
Here at laSt-alone at night by the
camp nre-he and his bosom debate
awhile, and he is led to speak of the
emptiness Of royalty and ceremony.
This speech, which ranks with the
finest of Shakespeare is one which
today is almost beyond the comprehen-
sion Of the average man. Indeed, It Is
interesting to observe that it is not
much applauded for the reason that il
is spoken entirely from the point Of
view OF a kng-and kings happen to
be in a minority as the world is con-
stituted today
Among other things which are interest
/ ing in this edition, it may be observed
that the compiler of the notes has taken
! pains TO discover the name OF almost
every minor character, such as heralds
and other personages who are not men
| toned by name in the original text and
| has given this. information. The stage
directions are also added to the text, so
! that one may almost see the play in read
! ing it, understanding the position Of every
! actor and almost every supernumerary.
! (Ncw York: Mcclure, Phillips & Co.
| 90 centS)