TRANSCRIBER'S NOTE
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within the text and consultation of external sources.
Except for those changes noted below, misspelling by the author, and inconsistent or archaic usage, has been retained. For example, gravediggers, grave-diggers; head-dress, headdress; riband, ribbon; ill luck, ill-luck; tragic, tragical; somerset; essay.
See the [Note] at the front of the book: This etext is derived from #216 of the 300 copies printed. The duplicates of the portraits have been removed.
[p. vii] 'Counttess' replaced by 'Countess'.
[p. 21] 'eat nor' replaced by 'ate nor'.
[p. 60] 'Oroonoko' replaced by '"Oroonoko"'.
[p. 62] 'to so many' replaced by 'to so many eras.'.
[p. 93] 'Westminister' replaced by 'Westminster'.
[p. 163] 'ex-hairdesser' replaced by 'ex-hairdresser'.
[p. 197] 'Sedaine' replaced by '"Sedaine"'.
[p. 229] 'dénoûment' replaced by 'dénouement'.
[p. 336] 'dénoûments' replaced by 'dénouements'.