NOTE ON THE ETCHINGS.
I have been asked to say a few words on the illustrations to this volume. The Portrait of Alleyn has been kindly permitted to be taken from the oil painting preserved at Dulwich College, and has not, it is believed, been previously engraved as a book illustration. It was thought that the reader would prefer a representation of this great actor, the first managing director under whom Shakespeare performed, to a reproduction of one of the many portraits of the poet himself, which have now become so hackneyed. For like reason, the Font in which Shakespeare was baptized has been obtained from a hitherto unreproduced original: an oil sketch made on the spot in 1853 by the world-known painter, Mr. Henry Wallis, and now in the artist's possession. It is with no little satisfaction that I find my work allowed to be associated with that of a painter so eminent, and with the name of one of the great poets for all ages, Mr. Robert Browning.
Printed by Ballantyne, Hanson & Co., Edinburgh and London.
Transcriber's Note.
Variable spelling and hyphenation have been retained. Minor punctuation inconsistencies have been silently repaired.