The Reverend J. R. MAJOR'S Guide to the Reading of
the Greek Tragedians, is a judicious selection from first-rate writers upon the Grecian Drama, indispensable to those who wish either to study the original authors, or to acquire a knowledge of the subject. The leading divisions are these. (1.) The origin and inventors of the Greek drama, its gradual advance and improvement, and the nature of its structure ; the characters of the principal tragic and comic writers, and the plan and construction of the ancient theatres, as well as some learned gossip touching actors and audiences. (2) The metres used by the Grecian poets. (3.) The canons of criticism laid down by moderns; which, however, are rather grammatical than critical. Upon the first topics, the selections are principally made from CUMBERLAND, CAMPBELL, FRANKLIN, and the greater BENTLEY, a considerable part of whose celebrated Phalaris is presented to the reader. The articles on the various metres, with a masterly précis of the rules of prosody, are chiefly if not wholly from the pen of the editor; of course prompted by the remarks of modern critics, as ELMSLEY, SEAGER, and DUNBAR. The principal authorities for the canons are PORSON, BLOMFIELD, and MoNK. The volume is a storehouse of knowledge upon the subjects of which it treats.
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