l they want is spirit, taste, and sense.

The inner history of his Preface would prove of itself that Theobald well
deserved the notoriety which he enjoyed in the eighteenth century.

Sir Thomas Hanmer.

Sir Thomas Hanmer's edition of Shakespeare, in six handsome quarto
volumes, was printed at the Clarendon Press in 1743-44. As it appeared
anonymously it was commonly called the "Oxford edition." It was well
known, however, that Hanmer was the editor. Vols. ii., iii., and iv. bear
the date 1743; the others, 1744.

Hanmer had been Speaker of the House of Commons from 1713 to 1715, and had
played an important part in securing the Protestant succession on the
death of Queen Anne. He retired from public life on the accession of
George II., and thereafter lived in "lettered ease" at his seat of
Mildenhall near Newmarket till his death in 1746. It is not known when he
undertook his edition of Shakespeare, but the idea of it was probably
suggested to him by the publication of Theobald's edition in 1733. His
relative and biographer, Sir Henry Bunbury, writing in 1838, refers to a
copy of this edition with corrections and notes on the text of every play
in Hanmer's handwriting. There can be no doubt, however, of the accuracy
of Warburton's statement that his edition was printed from Pope's, though
the hastiest examination will prove the falsity of Warburton's other
remark that Hanmer neglected to compare Pope's edition with Theobald's. He
relied on Pope's judgment as to the authenticity of passages and on
Theobald's accuracy in collation. Thus while he omits lines which Pope had
omitted, or degrades them to the foot of the page, he often adopts
Theobald's reading of a word or phrase.

He had certainly made considerable progress with the edition by May, 1738,
when he was visited by Warburton (see Nichols, _Illustrations_, ii. 44,
69). It was still incomplete in March, 1742, but it was sent to the
printer at the end of that year, as we learn from a letter of 30th
December to Zachary Grey, the editor of _Hudibras_: "I must now acquaint
you that the books are gone out of my hands, and lodged with the
University of Oxford, which hath been willing to accept of them as a
present from me. They intend to print them forthwith, in a fair impression
adorned with sculptures; but it will be so ordered that it will be the
cheapest book that ever was exposed to sale.... None are to go into the
hands of booksellers" (Nichols, _Literar