Preface to the Works of Shakespeare (1734) | Page 3

have made him seem. Warburton,
on the other hand, had had honest warning that acknowledgement
would not be made for this part of his help; and if his synopsis were
followed, as seems likely, his condemnation of the Preface as
"Theobald's heap of disjointed stuff" was disingenuous, to say the least.
Far less defensible was his assertion in the same letter to Thomas Birch
that, apart from the section on Greek texts, virtually the entire Preface
was stitched together from notes which he had supplied (Nichols,
Illustrations, II, 81).
Three further points concerning the Preface demand mention. First, the
section on Shakespeare's life is often dismissed as a simple recension of
Rowe's Life (1709). Actually, however, the expansion itself is a
characteristic example of Theobald's habit of exploring original sources.
To take only a single instance, Rowe says that Shakespeare's "Family,
as appears by the Register and Publick Writings relating to that Town,
were of good Figure and Fashion there, and are mention'd as
Gentlemen" (ed. S.H. Monk, Augustan Society Reprints, 1949, p. ii).
To this statement Theobald adds plentiful detail drawn from the same
Stratford records, from tombs in the Stratford Church, and from
documents in the Heralds' Office connected with the coat of arms
obtained for the playwright's father. Such typical expansions were the
result of conscientious research.

Second, all critics have agreed to condemn the digression in which
Theobald advertised his ability to emend Greek texts. Theobald himself
was hesitant about including it lest he be indicted for pedantry, but was
encouraged to do so by Warburton, who later scoffed at what he had
originally admired. This much may be said in Theobald's behalf. Such a
digression would not have seemed irrelevant in an age which took its
classical scholarship seriously; and such digressions, arising naturally
out of context and strategically placed before the conclusion, were not
only allowed but actually encouraged by classical rhetoricians like
Cicero and Quintilian, whose teachings were still standard in the
English schools.
Finally, the Preface exists in two forms. The later and shorter form was
that designed for Theobald's second edition (1740), which omits all
passages presumably contributed by Warburton and more besides, the
section on Greek texts, and the list of acknowledgements to
contemporary Shakespearian enthusiasts. This abridged form has been
frequently reprinted. From a copy in the University of Michigan
Library the original Preface is here reproduced for the first time.
Hugh G. Dick University of California, Los Angeles
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
[Transcriber's Note: Most Sidenotes appear at the beginning of a
paragraph. Where they originally appeared at mid-paragraph, their
approximate position is shown with an asterisk*.]
The WORKS of _SHAKESPEARE:_
in Seven Volumes.
Collated with the Oldest Copies, and Corrected; With NOTES,
Explanatory, and Critical:
By Mr. THEOBALD.
_I, Decus, i, nostrum: melioribus utere Fatis._ Virg.

_LONDON:_ Printed for A. Bettesworth and C. Hitch, J. Tonson, F.
Clay, W. Feales, and R. Wellington.
MDCCXXXIII.
* * * * *
THE
PREFACE.
The Attempt to write upon SHAKESPEARE is like going into a large,
a spacious, and a splendid Dome thro' the Conveyance of a narrow and
obscure Entry. A Glare of Light suddenly breaks upon you, beyond
what the Avenue at first promis'd: and a thousand Beauties of Genius
and Character, like so many gaudy Apartments pouring at once upon
the Eye, diffuse and throw themselves out to the Mind. The Prospect is
too wide to come within the Compass of a single View: 'tis a gay
Confusion of pleasing Objects, too various to be enjoyed but in a
general Admiration; and they must be separated, and ey'd distinctly, in
order to give the proper Entertainment.
[Sidenote*: A sketch of _Shakespeare's_ general Character.]
And as in great Piles of Building, some Parts are often finish'd up to hit
the Taste of the _Connoisseur_; others more negligently put together,
to strike the Fancy of a common and unlearned Beholder: Some Parts
are made stupendiously magnificent and grand, to surprize with the
vast Design and Execution of the Architect; others are contracted, to
amuse you with his Neatness and Elegance in little. *So, in
Shakespeare, we may find _Traíts_ that will stand the Test of the
severest Judgment; and Strokes as carelessly hit off, to the Level of the
more ordinary Capacities: Some Descriptions rais'd to that Pitch of
Grandeur, as to astonish you with the Compass and Elevation of his
Thought: and others copying Nature within so narrow, so confined a
Circle, as if the Author's Talent lay only at drawing in Miniature.
In how many Points of Light must we be oblig'd to gaze at this great

Poet! In how many Branches of Excellence to consider, and admire him!
Whether we view him on the Side of Art or Nature,