Transcriber’s Note
This transcription is based on scanned images posted by the Internet Archive from a copy in the Library of Congress:
[archive.org/details/boxcoxromanceofr00mort]
The following changes were noted:
- p. 4: Mrs. Vernon—Inserted period after name for consistency.
- p. 4: R. C., Right of Centre—Inserted semicolon after “Centre”.
- p. 11: [Taking key, hung up, L. opens door…—Inserted comma after “L.”
- p. 13: Cox. Don’t flatter yourself, sir.—Changed “Cox” to “Box”.
- p. 13: Box. Hollo! [Turns round.]—Changed “Hollo!” to “Holloa” for consistency.
- p. 18: …and brings out the dice-box..—Deleted second period.
- p. 21: You propossd to her first!—Changed “propossd” to “proposed”.
- p. 23: Cox. [Both run to door, L. C., and eagerly listen.—Inserted the dialogue “Yours!” after “Cox.” and put the stage direction on the following line. This emendation follows the text of two other editions of the play that were inspected. The first, an 1889 edition published by Walter H. Baker & Co., is available through Google Books at [books.google.com/books?id=Hms-AAAAYAAJ]. The second, reprinted in a collection of John Maddison Morton’s plays, Comediettas and Farces, published in 1886 by Harper & Brothers, is available through the Internet Archive at [archive.org/details/comediettasfarce00mort].
Variant spellings such as “trowsers,” “doating,” and “gulph,” and other inconsistencies of spelling not noted have been retained.
The html version of this etext attempts to reproduce the layout of the printed text. However, some concessions have been made. For example, the lists of abbreviations for exits and entrances and for relative positions on p. 4 were centered rather than coded as indented paragraphs to keep an abbreviation and the corresponding word or phrase on the same line and to prevent uneven spacing between words from line to line. In addition, stage directions printed flush right were placed on a separate line, then indented the same amount from the left margin and coded as hanging paragraphs.
In the text version of this etext, character titles preceding dialogue and character names in the stage directions have been rendered in all upper case letters.