THE

PLAYS

OF

Tvilliam Shakspeare,

ACCURATELY PRINTED FROM

The Text of the Corrected Copy left by the late

GEORGE STEEVENS, ESQ.

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GLOSSARIAL NOTES,

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A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF SHAKSPEARE.

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VOL. VIII.

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KING LEAR....ROMEO AND JULIET....HAMLET....OTHELLA.

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KING LE AR.

VÝ OB 2OJUN 34

Lear, king of Britain.
King of France.
Duke of Burgundy.
Duke of Cornwall.
Duke of Albany.
Earl of Kent.
Earl of Gloster.
Edgar, son to Gloster.
Edmund, bastard son to Gloster.
Curan, a courtier.
Old Man, tenant to Gloster.
Physician.
Fool.
Oswald, steward to Goneril.
An Officer, employed by Edmund.
Gentleman, attendant on Cordelia.
A Herald.
Scrvants to Cornwall.

Knights attending on the King, Officers, Messen

gers, Soldiers, and Attendants.

Scene, Britain.

KING LEAR.

ACT I.

SCENE I.-A room of state in King Lear's pal

Enter Kent, Gloster, and Edmund.

ace.

Kent. I THOUGHT, the king had more affected the duke of Albany, than Cornwall.

Glo. It did always seem so to us : but now, in the division of the kingdom, it appears not which of the dukes he values most; for equalities are so weigh'd, that curiosityl in neither can make choice of either's moiety:2

Kent. Is not this your son, my lord ?
Glo. His breeding, sir, hath been at my charge:

have so often blushed to acknowledge him, that now I am brazed to it.

Kent. I cannot conceive you.

Glo. Sir, this young fellow's mother could : whereupon she grew round-wombed; and had, indeed, sir, a son for her cradle, ere she had a husband for her bed. Do you smell a fault?

Kent. I cannot wish the fault undone, the issue of it being so proper.3

Glo. But I have, sir, a son by order of law, some year elder than this, who yet is no dearer in my account: though this knave came somewhat saucily (1) Most scrupulous nicety.

Part or division. (3) Handsome.