[82]. as I have formerly observ'd, in the Introduction to Shakespeare Restored, pp. ii and iv. The paragraph is quoted almost verbatim.
[83]. labour'd under flat Nonsense. Here again Theobald incorporates a passage from the Introduction to Shakespeare Restored, p. vi.
Corrections and conjectures. Yet another passage appropriated from his earlier work. The French quotation, however, is new.
Edition of our author's Poems. Theobald did not carry out his intention of editing the Poems. References to the proposed edition will be found in Warburton's letters to him of 17th May and 14th October, 1734 (see Nichols, Illustrations, ii., pp. 634, 654).
The only attempt as yet towards a Shakespearian Glossary is to be found in the supplementary volumes of Rowe's and Pope's editions. It is far from “copious and complete.”
[84]. The English are observ'd to produce more Humourists. See Congreve's letter to Dennis Concerning Humour in Comedy, 1695.
Wit lying mostly in the Assemblage of Ideas, etc. So Locke, Essay concerning the Human Understanding, Book II., Ch. xi., § 2. The passage had been popularised by Addison, Spectator, No. 62.
[85]. Donne. Cf. Dryden's criticism of Donne.
[86]. a celebrated Writer. Addison, Spectator, No. 297.
Bossu. René le Bossu (1631-1680), author of the Traité du poème épique (1675). An English translation by “W. J.” was printed in 1695, and again in 1719.