Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Beaumont and Fletcher
Chapter 7
... “So full of shapes is fancy, That it alone is high fantastical.”
Warburton’s alteration of _is_ into _in_ is needless. “Fancy” may very well be interpreted “exclusive affection,” or “passionate preference.” Thus, bird-fanciers; gentlemen of the fancy, that is, amateurs of boxing, &c. The play of assimilation,—the meaning one sense chiefly, and yet keeping both senses in view, is perfectly Shakespearian.