_Octavia_ (£82) was purchased for Mr. J. H. Wrenn. Others were announced for sale by Mr. Quaritch in his catalogue (No. 254) dated Dec. 1906. The titles of these plays and the auction price were: _Jacob and Esau_ (£148); _The Tide Tarrieth for no Man_ (£176); _The_ _Disobedient Child_ (£233); _Youth_; and _The New_ _Custom_ (£155). It is my good fortune in the present volume to be the first to make the three "lost" plays available for scholars. The greatest care has been taken to furnish a faithful rendering of the original texts; these have been set from rotary-bromide photographs of the unique copies now in national custody. Moreover, to meet the requirements of "textual experts" and the "higher criticism" these three plays form the first series of my _Tudor Fascimile_ _Texts_, and will shortly be available in collotype. The four "unknown" editions already noted are also being reproduced by the same process and will form Series II. of the same collection. Space--this volume is already much over-grown--forbids further comment. Nor would it be proper here and now. The recovery is too recent to have afforded an adequate opportunity for more than the most cursory examination; indeed, my strong feeling has been that I should best serve the wishes of the subscribers to the Early English Drama Society's publications by losing no time in placing these texts before them. The other early interludes which complete the present collection are likewise rare and more or less difficult of access. JOHN S. FARMER. 18 BURY STREET, W.C. CONTENTS PAGE MANKIND 1 NATURE. BY HENRY MEDWALL 41 THE PLAY OF WIT AND SCIENCE. BY JOHN REDFORD 135 RESPUBLICA 177 AN INTERLUDE OF WEALTH AND HEALTH 273 AN INTERLUDE OF IMPATIENT POVERTY 311 THE INTERLUDE OF JOHN THE EVANGELIST 349 NOTE-BOOK AND WORD-LIST 369 [MANKIND _c._ 1475 A MORALITY PORTRAYING THE LIFE OF NE'ER-DO-WEELS IN LATE PLANTAGENET AND EARLY TUDOR TIMES] [#The Names of the Players:# MERCY MANKIND MISCHIEF NEW GUISE NOUGHT NOW-A-DAYS TITIVILLUS] [Illustration] MANKIND [_Enter_ MERCY.]