Nichol Smith set out to show that the age between Dryden and Coleridge understood Shakespeare better than the Romantics allowed. He reprints nine key texts: Rowe’s life of the poet, Dennis on his genius, the edition prefaces of Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton and Samuel Johnson, Farmer’s essay on Shakespeare’s learning and Maurice Morgann’s defence of Falstaff, with a long introduction and notes.
The essential documents of how Shakespeare became the national poet, with Johnson’s great Preface at their centre. Download the free EPUB.