NEW READINGS IN SHAKESPEARE
NO. II.[1]
If the glory of Shakespeare is a theme for national congratulation, the purity of his text ought to be an object of national concern. It is not enough that the general effect of his writings should impress itself clearly on the hearts and minds of all classes of readers; that the grander and broader features of his genius should commend themselves to the admiration of all mankind. This they can never fail to do. The danger to which Shakespeare is exposed is not such as can ever materially affect the soul and substance of his compositions. Here he stands pre-eminent and secure. But he is exposed to a danger of another kind. As time wears on, his text runs periodically the risk of being extensively tampered with; whether by the introduction of new readings, properly so called, or by the insertion of glosses of a comparatively ancient date. The carelessness with which it is alleged the earlier editions were printed, is pleaded as an apology for these conjectural corrections;—one man's ingenuity sets to work the wits of another; and thus, unless the cacoethes emendandi be checked betimes, a distant posterity, instead of receiving our great poet's works in an authentic form, may succeed to a very adulterated inheritance.
This consideration induces us to exert such small power as we may possess to check the growing evil, and in particular to repress that deluge of innovations which Mr Collier has lately let loose upon the gardens of Shakespeare, from the margins of his corrected folio of 1632, and which, if they do not shake the everlasting landmarks, at any rate threaten with destruction many a flower of choicest fragrance and most celestial hue. We believe that when Mr Collier's volume was first published, the periodical press was generally very loud in its praises. "Here we have the genuine Shakespeare at last," said the journals, with singular unanimity. But when the new readings have been dispassionately discussed, and when the excitement of their novelty has subsided, we believe that Mr Collier's "Shakespeare restitutus," so far from being an acceptable present to the community, will be perceived to be such a book as very few readers would like to live in the same house with.
- ↑
Curiosities of Modern Shakesperian Criticism. By J. O. Halliwell, Esq. 1853.
Observations on some of the Manuscript Emendations of Shakespeare, and are they Copyright? By J. O. Halliwell, Esq. 1853.
J. Payne Collier's alte handschriftliche Emendationen zum Shakespeare gewurdigt von Dr Nicolaus Delius. Bonn, 1853.
The original text of Shakespeare has obtained two stanch and able defenders in the persons of these two gentlemen. Mr Halliwell's competency to deal with the text of our great poet, and with all that concerns him, is, we believe, all but universally acknowledged—the best proof of which is the confidence reposed in him by the subscribers to the magnificent edition now publishing under his auspices; a confidence which, we are convinced, he will not betray by any ill-judged deviations from the authentic readings. Dr Delius's pamphlet contains a very acute dissection of the pretended evidence by which Mr Collier endeavours to support the pretended emendations of his MS. corrector. It is characterised by great soundness of judgment, and displays a critical knowledge of the English language altogether astonishing in a foreigner. He may be at fault in one or two small matters, but the whole tenor of his observations proves that he is highly competent to execute the task which, as we learn from his announcement, he has undertaken—the publication, namely, of an edition of the English text of Shakespeare with German notes. We look forward with much interest to the publication of this work, as affording further evidence of the strong hold which Shakespeare has taken on the minds of Germany, and as a further tribute of admiration, added to the many which they have already paid to the genius of our immortal countryman.
