I have endeavoured to grapple with every difficulty, to leave, if possible, no knot unloosed. Some of my corrections must (many, I think, probably will) be admitted into the text. At the same time, I freely confess that some of these emendations are merely desperate remedies for desperate diseases; and it may be that future critics may have more success than I have had. I have, I believe, advanced the criticism of Shakespeare some stages; and if succeeding critics follow the path I have traced, the Plays will perhaps be, ere long, brought as near their original state as is possible. I regard the Introduction to the Notes as the most valuable part of this volume, as I have there endeavoured to reduce emendatory criticism to rule and law. I would earnestly recommend the reader to make himself master of it before using the Notes. It would also perhaps be well to do the same with the Index. The chief object of the Life, I may add, is to remove suspicion respecting the poet's private character. The portions of the text given in the Notes are always that of the original editions, unless when it is otherwise expressed. I have made them as brief as possible, as this book will, of course, only be read in conjunction with the Plays themselves. I have only occasionally given the metrical arrangement; those who would enjoy the pleasure of reading the Plays in perfect metric order must read them in my Edition. Finally, in very obvious corrections I have not deemed it necessary to state that I had been anticipated. This is the last of my works; my literary life here terminates. I am fast approaching the utmost limit set to human life by the Psalmist, my powers are necessarily on the decline, and prudence counsels obedience to the precept: "Solve senescentem mature sanus equum, ne Peccet ad extremum ridendus, et ilia ducat." T. K. _Belvedere, Kent_, _December 20, 1866_. I have also contributed to English literature:-- The Poems of John Milton with Notes. Two vols. 8vo, 21_s._ An Account of the Life, Opinions, and Writings of John Milton, with an Introduction to Paradise Lost. 8vo, 10_s._ 6_d._ CONTENTS. Page Life of Shakespeare 1 Editions, dates, and origins of Shakespeare's Plays 20 THE TEXT CORRECTED AND ELUCIDATED. INTRODUCTION. I. The Text, 45. II. The Verse, 76. COMEDIES. The Comedy of Errors, 89--The Two Gentlemen of Verona, 96--Love's Labour's Lost, 101--All's Well that ends Well, 113--Midsummer Night's Dream, 130--Taming of the Shrew, 138--Merchant of Venice, 148--As You Like it, 155--Much Ado about Nothing, 163--Merry Wives of Windsor, 168--Twelfth Night, 174--Measure for Measure, 181--Winter's Tale, 197--The Tempest, 208. HISTORIES.