The contemporaries of Shakespeare are quite numerous. In the cases devoted to the old English drama are the original and best editions of Chapman, Marston, Heywood, Dekker, Greene, Rowley, Massinger, Ford, Jonson, and Field. Besides the original quartos, the library contains most of the collected editions of the old dramatists, and in this department it is quite complete.
Three book-cases are devoted to works pertaining to the history of the stage, in every country and language, from the commencement of the art to the present time, and scarcely a work relating to the history, progress, or criticism of the stage can be named which is not to be found in the collection.
A full-length statue of Shakespeare in freestone, placed in a niche upon the northern side of the room, and surrounded by carved tracery of a Gothic design, has already been noticed. Upon the eastern side the Stratford bust is placed on a bracket of the age of Elizabeth. The celebrated antiquary, Cottingham, devoted his personal attention to this work, and no other copy has been given to the world. This bust, the bracket upon which it rests, a curious old drinking-vessel of stone with a metal lid, all found in the garden of Shakespeare's house at New Place, a well-carved head of a Nubian girl, and the key-stone of an entrance arch of the theatre at Pompeii, were purchased by the owner of the present collection at the extensive sale of the personal effects of Mr. Cottingham.
There is also a beautifully carved tea-caddy, made from the wood of Shakespeare's mulberry-tree, which formerly belonged to Garrick, and a small copy of Roubilliac's statue of Shakespeare, which is the first specimen of china-ware executed at Chelsea, in England. This likewise belonged to Garrick. There are likewise two drinking-cups with silver rims, said to be made of the wood of a crab-tree under which Shakespeare slept during his celebrated frolic, formerly in the possession of Betterton.
CONCLUSION.
In depicting the career of William E. Burton as Actor, Author, and Manager, we are aware of the secondary value of his authorship, as compared with his dramatic achievements. Nevertheless, his pen was a ready and fertile one, and produced much that was meritorious, though belonging to an ephemeral order. His plays, however, continue in the list of present theatrical publications. Of his editorship it may be affirmed that his conduct of "The Gentleman's Magazine" and "Literary Souvenir" was marked by taste and discrimination; and nothing but unqualified praise can be bestowed upon his superintendence of the compilation of humorous literature known as Burton's "Cyclopædia of Wit and Humor." It is by far the most complete repository of mirthful composition ever published in this country—or elsewhere, so far as we know,—and enjoys the peculiar advantage of being the only one in which the productions of American humor have any thing approaching an adequate representation. The selections throughout are indicative of great critical sagacity, and a keen perception and sympathetic appreciation, in the general arrangement, are everywhere suggested. As manager he certainly fulfilled all conditions, as we believe the relation of his successes in that sphere will sufficiently attest. But whatever his capacity in the vocations named, all is dwarfed by his transcendent powers as a comedian. He is remembered, and will be remembered, not as the author or manager, but as the great actor who swayed mankind with his supreme gift of humor. Many of the creations of his genius went away with him in death; and the traditions of his triumphs will long be distinguished in dramatic annals. Lastly, we have seen him a Shakespearian student and the possessor of a library perfectly glorious in its expression of devotion and homage to the great poet,—and linked with that proud association we leave his memory and his name.