The Warwick Shakespeare – Richard the Second

In the Warwick and Clarence is made in present the greater plays of the dramatists in their original purity as material for study. To this end the original punctuation, phrasing of the dialogue, and in general treatment have been adhered to as closely as may serve the ends of date and literary history have been fully dealt with in the Introductions, but the larger space has been devoted to the text itself and the notes upon it. Aesthetic judgments are never final, but the Editors have attempted to suggest points of view from which a dramatic character may be profitably undertaken. In the Arden Edition it is hoped that all unfamiliar expressions are explained, yet it has been thought even more important to consider the dramatic value of each scene, and the part which the parts play in the development of the general principles are common to the whole series; in detail each Editor is alone responsible for the plays intrusted to him.

Every volume of the series has been provided with a Glossary, an Essay upon Metre, and an Index, and an attempt has been made to include also an Essay upon Metre, which could not conveniently be treated in the Introductions or the Notes. The text is based on the several folios and quartos, the only omissions made are those that are unavoidable in an edition clearly to be used by young students, and by close attention to typographical detail, every effort has been made to provide an edition that will prove one worthy to use.