ABSTRACT
This is a full reproduction of the original edition of 1794, with the inclusion of all the extra notes and observations added by Whiter in his own revision of the work. All footnotes from the 1794 edition (Sp. 1) are reprinted in full and in their original places: the additional notes have been abbreviated and are given in square brackets in the place marked by Whiter in his interleaved copy (Sp. 2). New material in the body of the work is also marked by square brackets. Each new footnote is followed by an indication of its source in Whiter’s manuscripts (see Intro., pp. lxxiii-lxxviii) and a reference to the appropriate page in Sp. 1. Thus, for example, ‘Sp. 2, p. 53v: Sp. 1, p. 87’ indicates a note added by Whiter on the back of the interleaved sheet p. 53 of his revised Specimen and referring to a passage on p. 87 of the original Specimen of 1794. The numerical reference in the text to these additional notes is similarly indicated by brackets. Wherever possible act, scene, and line references from the Globe edition of Shakespeare have been added to Whiter’s references, and his, often cryptic, references to Malone have been expanded. Act and scene references have also been added to many of the plays from Dodsley’s Old Plays, and other works by Jonson and Beaumont and Fletcher. Where necessary the spelling and punctuation of Whiter’s quotations have been emended without comment.
