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PREFACE

No apology need be made for an edition of Every Man in His Humor if the play is considered for its intrinsic merit and influence. By common consent reckoned inferior only to Jonson's three or four best plays, it is thoroughly characteristic of him, and fully announces and illustrates his subsequent favorite literary activities. No later work is fresher, more spontaneous, or freer from the vices inherent in a drama peopled with types. There is 'substance of life' here, and, while this is not deeply permeated with the eternal human traits which make an author 'not of an age, but for all time', it is fair to assume that the bit of seventeenth-century London life here recorded will contain some appeal to people of any generation. Every Man in His Humor is significant also by reason of its progeny. The sum-total of Jonson's influence on later literature and the drama is even yet not realized in detail, and cannot be until each separate play is investigated and appreciated.

Many previous editions have appeared, and much valuable work has been done in connection with this comedy, but no one contribution is definitive or exhaustive. A new edition should be welcome then, at its lowest terms, if it collects the most important information concerning this play which at present is distributed in a variety of places. A new edition is justified also by the fact that no previous one has printed the quarto and first-folio texts side by side, and rendered easily accessible this interesting evidence of Jonson's method of revision. Many inviting topics have perforce been excluded. The genesis of the humor-idea, with Jonson's relation to it,

and the extent of his influence upon his contemporaries and followers, are subjects too large for the present investigation, in connection with other necessary tasks.

I take pleasure in recording my sincere thanks to those who have aided me in this work: first and principally, to Professor Albert S. Cook, for unfailing interest in this enterprise, and much valuable criticism; to Professor William Lyon Phelps, for his kindness in granting the unlimited use of his copy of the Folio of 1616; to Mr. W. A. White of New York City, for the generous loan of his copy of the quarto, and the pains taken in collating selected passages with a second original copy in his possession; to Professor Henry R. Lang, for confirmation of a point in Spanish history; to Professor George H. Nettleton and Professor C. F. Tucker Brooke, for several helpful suggestions; to Mr. Andrew Keogh, Mr. Henry Gruener, and Mr. George A. Johnson, for bibliographical aid ; and to my wife and my sister, for considerable assistance in the preparation of this manuscript for press.

A portion of the expense of printing this thesis has been borne by the English Club of Yale University from funds placed at its disposal by the generosity of Mr. George E. Dimock of Elizabeth, New Jersey, a graduate of Yale in the Class of 1874.

H. H. C.

YALE UNIVERSITY,

May 1, 1914.

INTRODUCTION

A. EDITIONS OF THE TEXT

I. THE QUARTO

Every Man in His Humor was first published, in quarto, in 1601. That text is in this edition for the first time printed parallel to that found in the folio of 1616. The basis of the quarto-text here printed is a copy owned by Mr. W. A. White, of New York City.

The quarto was long neglected. Cunningham was the first to revive interest in it when, in 1875, he reprinted the first act at the end of his edition of the folio-version (Wks. 1. 188). He was not scrupulously accurate in his reprint. The punctuation is conformed to modern usage, and the marginal stage-directions inserted into the body of the text. 'I' is printed in italic type, as in stands in the original, in three instances (1. 2. 93; I. 3. 92; 1. 3. 173) ; but, in the majority of cases (1. I. 167; I. I. 169; 1. 1. 171; I. 2. 82; 1. 3. 84; I. 3. IT2; I. 3. 132; 1. 4. 25; I. 4. 27; I. 4. 29; I. 4. 33 ; I. 4. 37 ; I. 4. 122; 1. 4. 128), it appears as 'I'. '&' is uniformly printed as 'and'. Cunningham's use of italics is inconsistent. He prints Prospero's letter (1. 1. 144 ff.) in roman; more often than not he reproduces the italics of the original, but the following words, which appear in Mr. White's copy (W) in italics, are printed in roman in his edition: I. I. 129; 1. 1. 142; 1.3. 162; 1. 3. 241; 1.4.33; 1. 4. 163 Prospero 1. 2. 103 Metaphor; 1.3.118 Matheo; 1. 3. 168 Giuliano; I. 4. 186 Hesperida; 1. 4. 193 Musse; in three instances (1. 1. 178

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