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The reader is requested to observe, that the passages in the following tragedy, which have been condemned by the Licenser, are printed in Italics. The authority upon which they are thus pointed out, is an official copy of the play, sent by the Manager of Covent Garden Theatre to the Licenser, and returned by that officer, with his erasures marked in red ink—this copy is now in my possession.
The passages distinguished by inverted commas were omitted by me, in the copy for the Theatre, in order to reduce the Play within the necessary acting limits;— having taken the Tragedies of Shakspeare, in Johnson and Steevens's edition, as my guide, in judging of the length to which I should extend my composition; and not being aware how much they were curtailed for the stage, I was led into the error of writing nearly one thousand lines more than could be admitted within the usual limits of an acting play. I feel myself called upon, however, in consideration of the circumstances which have attended my production, to publish it as it was originally composed,—not a line omitted,—not a sentiment softened—not a word changed or suppressed; that the utmost extent of my delinquency,—“the very head and front of my offending,” may be submitted to the public.
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