The most excellent | Historie | of the | Merchant of Venice: | With the extreame cruelty of _Shylocke_ | the _Jew_ towards the said Merchant, in cutting a | just pound of his flesh; and the obtaining | of _Portia_ by the choyce of three Chests. | As it hath beene diverse times acted by the | _Lord Chamberlaine his Servants_. | Written by William Shakespeare. | London: | Printed for _William Leake_, and are to be solde at his shop at the | signe of the Crown in _Fleetstreet_, between the two | Temple Gates. 1652. The ‘Lansdowne version,’ which we have quoted in the notes, is the adaptation of _The Merchant of Venice_, published by Lord Lansdowne in 1701 under the title of _The Jew of Venice_. 5. AS YOU LIKE IT was printed for the first time in the First Folio; at least if any previous edition was ever published, no copy of it is known to be extant. This alone, of all the plays contained in the present volume, is divided into scenes in the Folio. In this play an unusual number of certain and probable emendations are due to the Second Folio. The ‘De Quincey (or ‘Quincy’) MS.’ is an annotated copy of the Fourth Folio, quoted by Mr Grant White and Mr Halliwell. In addition to those mentioned in the preface to the first volume, to whom we beg here to repeat our acknowledgments, we have to thank the Countess of Ellesmere and the Duke of Devonshire for the liberality with which they have thrown open to us the treasures of their libraries. We have to thank the Duke of Devonshire also for the interest which he has taken in our work and the help he has been kind enough to render in person. And on the same score we owe a debt of gratitude to Dr Kingsley, Mr Howard Staunton, Mr H. J. Roby, and Professor Craik, whose excellent volume _The English of Shakespeare_ is too well known to need any commendation from us. One act of kindness deserves an especial record. Dr Leo of Berlin, who had himself prepared an edition of _Coriolanus_, was meditating a complete edition of Shakespeare on the plan we have adopted, but gave up the scheme when he found we had anticipated him. Reading in the preface to our first volume an expression of regret that there was no index to Mr Sidney Walker’s _Shakespeare Criticisms_, Dr Leo copied out and sent us an index which he had made for his own use. It has been of the greatest service to us, and we here beg to thank him most cordially for his generous aid. W. G. C. W. A. W. Mr Glover’s removal from Cambridge having compelled him to relinquish his part as Editor, Mr Wright, who was already engaged on the Glossary, has taken his place. This arrangement will, it is hoped, continue to the end. W. G. C. MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. DRAMATIS PERSONÆ[1].