A COLLECTION OF OLD ENGLISH PLAYS, VOL. II In Four Volumes Edited by A.H. BULLEN 1882-89. CONTENTS: Preface Dick of Devonshire The Lady Mother The Tragedy of Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt Captain Underwit Appendix I. Appendix II. Footnotes. PREFACE. The plays in this volume are printed for the first time. All are anonymous; but it is absolutely certain that _Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt_ is a masterpiece by Fletcher and Massinger; that _Captain Underwit_ is a comedy of Shirley's; and that the _Lady Mother_ (a piece of no particular merit) is by Glapthorne. I am not at all sure that I am right in ascribing _Dick of Devonshire_ to Heywood. But, whoever may have been the author, I am confident that this well-written play will be welcomed by all. In _Appendix I_ I give an account of the folio volume (Eg. MS. 1,994) from which the two last pieces are taken. To Mr. ROBERT BOYLE, of St. Petersburg, I offer my sincere thanks for the very interesting note (_Appendix II_) which he sent me after reading the proof-sheets of _Barnavelt_. Elsewhere I have expressed my gratitude to Mr. F.G. FLEAY for his valuable help. The preparation of this volume has been a work of great labour, for everything has been transcribed by my own hand; but the tedious delay in publication has been due in great part to circumstances beyond my control. _January_ 27, 1883. INTRODUCTION TO DICK OF DEVONSHIRE. The play of _Dick of Devonshire_, now first printed (from Eg. MS., 1994[1]), is distinctly a well-written piece, the work of a practised hand. There is nothing amateurish in the workmanship; the reader is not doomed to soar into extravagances at one moment, and sink into flatnesses at another. Ample opportunities were offered for displays of boisterous riot, but the playwright's even-balanced mind was not to be disturbed. Everywhere there are traces of studious care; and we may be sure that a style at once so equable and strong was not attained without a long apprenticeship. Nor will the reader fail to note the lesson of charitableness and Christian forbearance constantly, yet unobtrusively, inculcated.