Thomas Otway The Best Plays of the Old Dramatists

LETTER VI.

Chapter 43807 wordsPublic domain

You were pleased to send me word you would meet me in the Mall this evening, and give me further satisfaction in the matter you were so unkind to charge me with: I was there, but found you not; and therefore beg of you, as you ever would wish yourself to be eased of the highest torment it were possible for your nature to be sensible of, to let me see you some time to-morrow, and send me word, by this bearer, where, and at what hour, you will be so just as either to acquit or condemn me; that I may, hereafter, for your sake, either bless all your bewitching sex, or, as often as I henceforth think of you, curse womankind for ever.

THE END.

"The excellent MERMAID SERIES."--_Spectator._

FOOTNOTES:

[81] To leave the stage.

_THE MERMAID SERIES._

"I lie and dream of your full MERMAID wine."

_Master Francis Beaumont to Ben Jonson._

Now Publishing,

In Half-Crown monthly vols., post 8vo, each volume containing 500 pages and an etched fround in cloth with cut or uncut edges,

AN UNEXPURGATED EDITION OF

THE BEST PLAYS

OF

THE OLD DRAMATISTS, UNDER THE GENERAL EDITORSHIP OF HAVELOCK ELLIS.

In the MERMAID SERIES are being issued the best plays of the Elizabethan and later dramatists--plays which, with Shakespeare's works, constitute the chief contribution of the English spirit to the literature of the world. The Editors who have given their assistance to the undertaking include men of literary eminence, who have distinguished themselves in this field, as well as younger writers of ability.

Each volume contains on an average five complete plays, prefaced by an Introductory Notice of the Author. Great care is taken to ensure, by consultation among the Editors, that the plays selected are in every case the _best_ and most representative--and not the most conventional, or those which have lived on a merely accidental and traditional reputation. A feature will be made of plays by little known writers, which although often so admirable are now almost inaccessible. In every instance the utmost pains is taken to secure the best text, the spelling is modernised, and brief but adequate notes are supplied. In no case do the Plays undergo any process of expurgation. It is believed that, although they may sometimes run counter to what is called modern taste, the free and splendid energy of Elizabethan art, with its extreme realism and its extreme idealism--embodying, as it does, the best traditions of the English Drama--will not suffer from the frankest representation.

"The admirably selected and edited MERMAID SERIES of the Old Dramatists."--_Truth._

VOLUMES ALREADY PUBLISHED.

EACH CONTAINING 500 PAGES AND UPWARDS, WITH STEEL ENGRAVED PORTRAITS OR OTHER FRONTISPIECES. _With a View of the Red Bull Theatre._

THE BEST PLAYS OF THOMAS HEYWOOD. Edited by A. WILSON VERITY. With an Introduction by J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS.

_With a View of Old London showing the Bankside and its Theatres._

THE BEST PLAYS OF JOHN FORD. Edited by HAVELOCK ELLIS.

_With a Portrait of William Wycherley, from the Picture by Sir Peter Lely._

THE COMPLETE PLAYS OF WILLIAM WYCHERLEY. Edited, with an Introduction and Notes, by W. C. WARD.

_With a Portrait of Nathaniel Field, from the Picture at Dulwich College._

NERO AND OTHER PLAYS. Edited, with Introductory Essays and Notes, by H. P. HORNE, ARTHUR SYMONS, A. W. VERITY, and H. ELLIS.

_With a View of the Old Globe Theatre._

THE BEST PLAYS OF WEBSTER AND TOURNEUR. With an Introduction and Notes by JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS.

_With a Portrait of James Shirley, from the Picture in the Bodleian Gallery._

THE BEST PLAYS OF JAMES SHIRLEY. With an Introduction by EDMUND GOSSE.

_With a View of the Old Fortune Theatre._

THE BEST PLAYS OF THOMAS DEKKER. With Introductory Essay and Notes by ERNEST RHYS.

_With a Portrait of Congreve, from the Picture by Sir Godfrey Kneller._

THE COMPLETE PLAYS OF WILLIAM CONGREVE. Edited and annotated by ALEX. C. EWALD.

_In Two Vols., with Portraits of Beaumont and Fletcher._

THE BEST PLAYS OF BEAUMONT AND FLETCHER. With an Introduction and Notes by J. ST. LOE STRACHEY.

_With a Portrait of Middleton._

THE BEST PLAYS OF THOMAS MIDDLETON. With an Introduction by ALGERNON CHARLES SWINBURNE.

_With a full-length Portrait of Alleyn, the Actor, from the Picture at_ _Dulwich College._

THE BEST PLAYS OF CHRISTOPHER MARLOWE. Edited, with Critical Memoir and Notes, by HAVELOCK ELLIS, and containing a General Introduction to the Series by J. ADDINGTON SYMONDS.

_With a Portrait of Massinger._

THE BEST PLAYS OF PHILIP MASSINGER. With a Critical and Biographical Essay and Notes by ARTHUR SYMONS.

* * * * *

_VIZETELLY & CO., 16, HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN, LONDON_, AND ALL BOOKSELLERS.

Transcriber's Notes:

Simple spelling, grammar, and typographical errors were corrected.

Punctuation normalized.

Anachronistic and non-standard spellings retained as printed.

P. 171 moved stage direction "[_Dies._" to previous line. Although this is at the end of 'Pol.'s' line, it seems to be intended for Castalio.

Italics markup is enclosed in _underscores_.

Inverted asterism is indicated by [***].