TRAGEDY OF

KING RICHARD THE SECOND.

EDITED, WITH NOTES,

BY/

WILLIAM J. ROLFE, A.M.,

FORMERLY HEAD MASTER OF THE HIGH SCHOOL, CAMBRIDGE, MASS.

WITH ENGRAVINGS.

ΛΑΜΠΑΔΙΑ

NEW YORK:

HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,

FRANKLIN SQUARE.

1876.

187.6. Sept. 25, Geff

The Editor.

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, by

HARPER & BROTHERS,

In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

PREFACE. ·

THE text of this edition is based on a careful comparison of the quarto of 1597 and the folio of 1623 (see page 12), with a collation of the other leading editions, all the important varia lectiones being mentioned in the Notes. No "expurgation" of the text has been deemed necessary.

For the convenience of teachers the lines of the text have been numbered, and in the Notes the number of the line has been given in all references to other passages of Shakespeare. The numbering

of the "Globe" edition, now generally adopted by Shakespearian commentators, has been followed in all cases.

In the Notes, as in the earlier volumes of the series, I have preferred to err, if at all, on the side of fulness. As Shakespeare is often his own best commentator, have let him explain himself by parallel passages whenever it was possible. In this part of the work I have found Abbott's Grammar and Schmidt's Lexicon of constant service. The metrical peculiarities have received special attention, and here I have seldom seen reason for dissenting from Abbott's decisions.

On the whole, I hope that this little book may be found in some respects an improvement on its predecessors, which have been received with more favor than I had a right to expect.

Cambridge, June 22, 1876.