Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Plays and Poems of George Chapman the Tragedies Edited With Introductions and Notes
This, the first volume of a new edition of the plays and poems of George Chapman, includes his tragedies, Bussy D'Ambois, The Revenge of Bussy, The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Byron, Chabot, and Ccesar and Pompey, together with the two tragedies ascribed to him by their first publishers, Alphonsus Emperor of Germany, and Revenge for Honour. The second volume will contain his comedies, and the third his poems, along with a general introduction, a glossary, and a bibliography. The need of a complete edition of Chapman's plays and poems has long been felt by students of Elizabethan literature. It was not until more than two centuries after his death that the first collection of his plays, The Comedies and Tragedies of George Chapman, London, 1873, appeared. This collection was incomplete, omitting Chabot and Eastward Ho, and the text which professed to be an exact reprint of the old editions left much to be desired. In 1874-5 tne nrst complete edition of his works appeared, edited by R. H. Shepherd, who is generally understood to have been the editor of the previous edition. This later edition, although remedying the omissions of the former, is satisfactory neither to the general reader nor to the student of the Elizabethan drama. There is no need to go into details here; evidence of the careless manner in which the task was performed will be found in abundance in my Text Notes to the various plays. Since 1875 only selected plays of Chapman have been published, and of these the largest collection, that included in the Mermaid Series, rests upon the work of Mr. Shepherd. There is, I believe, ample room for a new and complete edition, which will at once satisfy the demand of scholars for an accurate text, and present the work of the noble old poet in a form suited to the general reading public. Such, at least, is the opinion of the present editor, and it is at this goal that he has aimed in the preparation of the present edition. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
