Excerpt from The Ancient British Drama, Vol. 1 of 3 Tun present Publication is intended to form, with 7714! British Drama, and Shakapcare, a complete and uniform Collection, in Ten Volumes, of the best English Plays. The distinction of Ancient and Modem will be found to consist chiefly in reference to their having lost or retained possession of the Stage. Hamlet and Macbeth, for example, cannot, in this sense, be termed ancient Plays, although prior in date to many, or indeed to most of those which will be found in the following Volumes. It is unnecessary to inform the lovers of the Drama, that although the later and more fashionable department of the Collection will be found most useful to the frequenters of the Theatre, yet that which we are now prefacing will be the most acceptable to the admirers of poetry. From the latter end of the sixteenth century to the breaking out of the civil war, the best Poets of England were engaged in dramatic composition; and Dnn'ron and spencer are the only authors of eminent reputation, who have not written for the Stage. 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.