ILLUSTRATIONS Richard Burbage, Thomas Betterton, Elizabeth Barry, John Henderson, SHAKESPEARE, From the Droeshout Engraving, Frontispiece George Frederick Cooke, Lucy Vestris, Louisa Nesbitt, Charles Kean, Samuel Phelps, Gustavus Vaughan Brooke. James Quin, and others, in "Coriolanus," 198 William Charles Macready, as King Henry the Fourth. 314 After a Painting by John Jackson, R. A. James Quin as Falstaff, in "King Henry IV.," 332 From a Rare Old Steel Engraving. Stephen Kemble as Falstaff, in "King Henry IV.," 344 From an Old Print. James Henry Hackett as Falstaff, in "King Henry IV.," 356 From a Photograph. John H. Jack as Falstaff, in "King Henry IV.," 366 From a Photograph. Falstaff at the Battle of Shrewsbury, 378 After a Painting by Edward Grutzner. John Henderson as Falstaff, in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," 392 From an Old Print. Charles Fisher as Falstaff, in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," 400 From a Photograph. Benedick De Bar as Falstaff, in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," 404 From a Steel Engraving. William Henry Crane as Falstaff, in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," 408 From a Photograph. Herbert Beerbohm-Tree as Falstaff, in "The Merry Henrietta Crosman, Thomas A. Wise, and Viola Allen, TO FACE in "The Merry Wives of Windsor," . From a Photograph. Kyrle Bellew as Marc Antony, From a Photograph. Cora Urquhart Potter as Cleopatra, From a Photograph. Edward H. Sothern and Julia Marlowe, in "Antony and Charles Kean and Mrs. Charles Kean as King John and 434 456 462 466 482 492 508 PREFACE The completion of this book brings me one step nearer to the end of an exacting task to which I have long been devoted, and the full accomplishment of which will provide lovers of the Stage with an authentic general view of the manner in which the Plays of Shakespeare have been exhibited in the Theatre of Great Britain and America from the time of their origin till the present day. (When the work was begun I had hoped and intended to revisit Germany and to travel through Germany and Austria, visiting the leading theatres of those countries, witnessing performances of Shakespeare adaptations as given there, and to devote a supplementary volume exclusively to an examination and account of the performances thus observed. The war in Europe has ended all hope of my ever accomplishing that purpose.) The narrative, I believe, will be found interesting, and since reviewal of the Past furnishes guidance for the Future, I venture to hope that it will prove useful not only to students of the great dramatist, but particularly to those votaries of the Stage who labor for the right representation of his plays. Such endeavor 21 |