Messrs. Ble.ekie and Son have published an edition of the
ever- green Select Tales from Shakespeare, by Mary and Charles Lamb, which ought to be of use in schools. Mr. David Frew has pro- vided an introduction, composed mainly of a biography of the Lambs and notes. The biography is concise and sympathetic, and concludes with this statement about Charles Lamb :—" He sometimes drank to excess. It was a pity ; but after all, he was a noble, lovable soul." Canon Ainger would have contrived to state this truth more artistically. Mr. Frew's notes are much to the point, being brief, and stating only what is absolutely neces- sary. Some of the allusions in them are very happy, and intro- duce quotations from modern authors very successfully. Thus, in commenting on the use of "yew" in Twelfth Night, he quotes not only the celebrated line of Beaumont and Fletcher, but "Strew on her roses, roses, and never a spray of yew," from Matthew Arnold's " Requiescat."
Previous page
