ndents, no experience of the
kind has befallen me.

There is something pathetic in the frequency with which
correspondents, obviously of unblemished character and most generous
instinct, send me almost tearful expressions of regret that I should
have hitherto ignored one particular document, which throws (in their
eyes) a curious gleam on the dramatist's private life. At least six
times a year am I reminded how it is recorded in more than one obscure
eighteenth-century periodical that the dramatist, George Peele, wrote
to his friend Marle or Marlowe, in an extant letter, of a merry
meeting which was held at a place called the "Globe." Whether the
rendezvous were tavern or playhouse is left undetermined. The
assembled company, I am assured, included not merely Edward Alleyn the
actor, and Ben Jonson, but Shakespeare himself. Together these
celebrated men are said to have discussed a passage in the new play of
_Hamlet_. The reported talk is at the best tame prattle. Yet, if
Shakespeare be anywhere revealed in unconstrained intercourse with
professional associates, no biographer deserves pardon for overlooking
the revelation, however disappointing be its purport.

Unfortunately for this neglected intelligence, the letter in question
is an eighteenth century fabrication. It is a forgery of no intrinsic
brilliance or wit. It bears on its dull face marks of guilt which
could only escape the notice of the uninformed. It is not likely to
mislead the critical. Nevertheless it has deceived many an uncritical
reader, and has constantly found its way into print without meeting
serious confutation. It may therefore be worth while setting its true
origin and subsequent history on record. No endeavour is likely in all
the circumstances of the case to prevent an occasional resurrection of
the meagre spectre; but at present it appears to walk in various
quarters quite unimpeded, and an endeavour to lay it may not be
without its uses.

II

Through the first half of 1763 there was published in London a monthly
magazine called the _Theatrical Review, or Annals of the Drama_, an
anonymous miscellany of dramatic biography and criticism. It was a
colourless contribution to the journalism of the day, and lacked
powers of endurance. It ceased at the end of six months. The six
instalments were re-issued as "Volume I." at the end of June 1763; but
that volume had no successor.[39]

[Footnote 39: Other independent publications of similar