MALONE, EDMOND, one of the most respectable editors of Shakespeare, WAS b. in Dublin, Oct 4, 1741, and educated at the university of that city, where he won a high reputation as a scholar, and took the degree of B.A. In 176'7 he was called to the Irish bar; but soon after, becoming possessed of a considerable fortune, he went to London, and devoted himself to literary pursuits. His first appearance as an author was in 1780, when he published 2 vols. supplementary to Steevens's edition of Shakespeare (1778). His next achievement--though in this he was only one of several—was exposing the splendid forgeries of Chatterton. Ile also contributed some notes to Steevens's third edition of Shakespeare, published in 1785, in which he occasionally controverted the opinions of the editor. This led to a serious quarrel between the two, in which Steevens was wholly to blame. Malone's own edition of the great dramatist (1790) was warmly received. The
essays on the Ilisttrry of the Stage, and on the Genuineness of the Three Flays of Denry VL, have been praised in an especial manner. In this work, Malone displays extreme good sense, much acuteness, extensive research, and a becoming respect for the text of the earlier editions. In 1796 he again signalized himself as a literary detective by exposing the Shakesperean forgeries of the Irelands. In 1797 he published a, posthumus edition of the works of his friend sir Joshua Reynolds. His death took place May 25, 1812. He left behind him a large quantity of materials for another edition of Shakespeare, which appeared in 1821, in 21 vols., under the editorship of 3Ir. James Boswell. See Life of Edmond Malone, with Selections from his Manuscript Anecdotes, by sir James Prior (Lond. 1860)