In the beginning of the year 1616, Shakspeare seems to have anticipated his approaching dissolu tion. He then made his will,* and he died on the anniversary of his birthday, on the 23d April 1616. On the second day after his death he was intered among his ancestors on the north side of the chancel of Stratford church, where the monument erected to his memory still remains. It is partly of marble and partly of stone, and consists of a half length bust of the poet, with a cushion before him, placed under an ornamental canopy, between two columns of the Co rinthian order, supporting an entablature on which is sculptured in bold relief the Shakspeare arms and crest. Beneath the bust are the following lines:— have been suggested by the dread that his remains might some day or other 0 be added to the immense pile of human bones deposited in the charnel house at Stratford." In the year 1740, a magnificent monument was erected at Westminster Abbey at the public expense, to the memory of Shakspeare. A very large sum for this purpdse was obtained from the exhibition of the tragedy of Julius Caesar at the Theatre-Royal, Drury Lane, on the 28th April 1738.
The first collection of the plays of Shakspeare was published in London in 1623, in folio, by Isaac Jag gard and Ed. Blount, under the title of " Mr. Wil liam Shakspeare's Comedies, Histories, and Trage dies." It was edited by John Hemynge and Henry Condell, and was dedicated to the Earl of Pembroke and the Earl of Montgomery. On the title page is an engraving of the poet by Martin Droeshout and on the opposite page arc the following lines by Ben Jonson.
A second folio edition of Shakspeare was publish ed in 1632, a third in 1664, and a fourth in 1685, and not many years ago, the first edition was reprinted in close imitation of the original, by Vernon and Hood, London.
In 1709 Nicolas Rowe published an edition in 7 vols. 8vo. to which was prefixed a biographical me moir of Shakspeare. Another edition, by the same editor, appeared in 1714 in 9 vols. 12mo.
In 1725 Pope published an edition in 6 vols. 4to. with critical and commendatory notes; and in 1725, the same editor published another edition in 10 vols. 12mo. with additional notes and corrections.
In 1733 Theobald brought out an elaborate edition in 7 vols. 8vo., and a second in 1740 in 8vo. with cor rections and additions.
In 1744 Sir Thomas Hanmer published an edition in 6 vols. 4to.
In 1747 Warburton published his edition in 8 vols. 8 vo.
In 1765 Dr. Johnson published an edition in 8 vols. 8vo. with an able preface on the character of Shak speare's writings.
In 1766, Stevens published the Old Plays in 4 vols. 8vo.
In 1768, Mr. Capc11 published an edition in 10 vols.
crown 8vo.
In 1771, Sir Thomas Hanmer published a second and improved edition in 6 vols. 4to.
In 1773 Jonhson and Purvcs published conjunctly an edition in 10 vols. Svo. of which a second edition appeared in 1778, and a third in 1785, revised and corrected by Mr. Reed.
In 1786, Joseph Roan published the first volume of the Dramatic Works of Shakspeare, with notes. This work was completed iu 6 vols. Svo. in 1799.
In 1784, there was published by Stockdale an edi tion in 1 vol. royal 8vo. with a copious index of passa ges by the Rev. :qr. Ayscough.
In 1788, appeared Bell's edition in 20 vols. 12mo. In 1770, Malone published his edition in 10 vols. crown 8vo.
In 1773, a fourth edition, revised and augmented, was published by Mr. Stcevens in 15 vols. 8vo.
In 1803, there was published a fifth edition in 21 vols. Svo. from the text, and with the notes of John son, Steevens, and Reed. Another edition of the work appeared in 1813.
In 1805, an edition was published in 10 vols. 8vo. with a prefatory essay by Alexander Chalmers, F. S. A. In this edition each play is illustrated with a print designed by Fuseli.
Besides these editions, a splendid one was publish ed by Boydcll in 9 vols. folio, embellished with 100 engravings, executed by the most eminent artists. A quarto edition of the work was also printed. An edi tion of Shakspeare, printed by Whittingham, has also been published in 1814, in 7 vols. 18mo. illustrat ed with 230 engravings on wood, with remarks on the life and writings of Shakspeare, by John Butters, F. S. A. It has been calculated that at least 100,000 copies of Shakspeare's works have been printed and sold.
The following excellent character of Shakspeare as a Dramatic Writer, has been drawn up by the able pen of Dr Johnson.
" Shakspeare is above all writers, at least above all modern writers, the poet of nature; the poet that holds up to his readers a faithful mirror of manners and of life. His characters are not modified by the customs of particular places, unpractised by the rest of the world; by the peculiar writers of studies or pro fessions, which can operate but upon small numbers; or by the accidents of transient, factitious, or tempo rary opinions: they are the genuine progeny of com mon humanity, such as the world will always supply, and observation will always find. His persons act and speak by the influence of those general passions and principles by which all minds are agitated, and the whole system of life is continued in motion. In the writings of other poets a character is too often an in dividual; in those of Shakspeare it is commonly a species.