A Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 2

Produced by Jonathan Ingram, Tapio Riikonen and PG Distributed
Proofreaders
In Four Volumes
Edited by
1882-89.
Preface Dick of Devonshire The Lady Mother The Tragedy of Sir John Van Olden Barnavelt Captain Underwit Appendix I. Appendix II. Footnotes.
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.
Search whether can be found again the like For noble prowess for our Tav'stock Pike, In whose renowned never-dying name Live England's honour and the Spaniard's shame.
As to the authorship of the play, though I should be loth to speak with positiveness, I feel bound to put forward a claim for Thomas Heywood. Through all Heywood's writings there runs a vein of generous kindliness: everywhere we see a gentle, benign countenance, radiant with love and sympathy. On laying down one of his plays, the reader is inclined to apply to him Tacitus' judgment of Agricola, bonum virum facile crederes, magnum libenter. Now, when we open Dick of Devonshire , the naturalness and simplicity of the first scene at once suggest Heywood's hand. In the second scene, the spirited eulogy on Drake—