unable to explain, and have always found them extremely liberal, and communicative, and entitled to my warmest acknowledgments. The most difficult part of this undertaking, is to express the gratitude I feel to my friends, Messrs. George and William Nicol, for the uniform kindness, with which they have promoted the prosecution of this work. By their intervention, I inspected the Roxburghe Collection, and can confidently say, they could not have displayed more zeal, had they themselves. been personally interested." It would be superfluous and ridiculously ostentatious, to enumerate every book made use of in the compilation of this work. I have pointed out the leading sources, whence the materials have been drawn. It will afford me much gratification, should the publick esteem this new edition improved by the researches of the editor; if otherwise, his efforts cannot be too soon consigned to oblivion, "The family vault of all the Capulets." It is only necessary to add, that the poems contained in the first volume (except No. V.), are now first printed in this collection. The additional matter, interspersed through the other volumes, is distinguished by a † prefixed to the title in the general table of contents, annexed to the first volume. R. H. EVANS. Pall-Mall, ERRATUM. The reader will please to make the following correction in vol. 3. p. 63. instead of Through the Town of Fortune we did him bring, read, Through the Town of Forden we did him bring. In the note subjoined at the bottom of the page, I had intimated my dissent from Mr. Weber's emendation; a subsequent inspection of Speed's Theatre of Great Britain, enables me to restore the genuine reading. CONTENTS OF THE FIRST VOLUME. |