Illustrations of Shakspeare, and of Ancient Manners:

The title page describes the book as Illustrations of Shakspeare, and of Ancient Manners, with dissertations on the clowns and fools of Shakspeare, on the collection of popular tales entitled Gesta Romanorum, and on the English Morris Dance, by Francis Douce. The contents list gives, among others, the headings The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Merry Wives of Windsor and Twelfth Night. A note on the word wimpled says that Shakspeare means no more than that Cupid was hood-winked, alluding to the usual representation in paintings where he is exhibited with a bandage over his eyes.

A note says the blindness of the God of love is not warranted by the authority of any ancient classic author, but appears to have been the invention of some writer of the middle ages. A passage says two incidents in a Greek romance are likewise to be found in Cymbeline. The jealous Manto orders a trusty servant to carry Anthia into a wood and put her to death; Anthia has become the slave of Manto and her husband.