16 FEBRUARY 1889, Page 27

King Henry VI. Edited, with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary, by

Benjamin Dawson, B.A. (Simpkin and Marshall.) —This is the third of a series of Shakespeare's plays to be edited by members of the New Shakespeare Society. The annotation is somewhat meagre, but much care has been given to the subject of metre. This, indeed, is to be "the special feature" of the edition, as we learn from the preface. It will certainly make it useful ; it is rare to hear even an educated person read Shake- speare's verse correctly. Mr. Dawson marks the quantity, or

rather the stress of syllables, by marks, and does it well, though we cannot always agree with his marking. For instance, in the line, "The civil citizens kneading up the honey," we have the second " i" of "citizens " italicised to indicate that the word is to be pronounced as a dissyllable. But surely it is a trisyllable, only that the two first syllables are pronounced with very slight stress.