SHAKESPEARE, William.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

Mr William Shakespeare his Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, First edition of Capell's Shakespeare, the first to be assembled from careful scrutiny of the earliest sources. This departed from the practice of editing with reference only to recent editions and purged the text of inaccuracies that had arisen. "It has been said that 'scientific criticism of the text begins with Edward Capell'" (Walker, p. 147).Capell (1713-1781) began work in 1745, collecting almost every publication of Shakespeare available, including the folios and most of the traceable quartos. The plays were published with only minimal footnotes, since Capell deemed them unattractive. As it was, the accompaniment of "Various Readings" promised on the title page were not published until after his death. A contemporary wrote a letter to Capell describing him as the "Restorer of Shakespeare", and he wept on reading this.

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