Dutton Cook, during his day more than a century ago, was known in London as the dramatic critic of one of the ablest daily journals, and there is consequently some fitness in his detailing the history of the play.
There are some very minor errors in this volume—and with so many facts it is only to be expected that an occasional error would creep in—but, notwithstanding this, the study is a most interesting one to the general reader.
For some of the inaccuracies—notably the repetition of a whole passage—probably the printer is responsible; at any rate, the work is so amusing, we might almost say valuable, to the playgoer, that it will be worth Dutton Cook's while to bring out a very carefully revised edition of it at some future time. He chats most pleasantly of all the old favorites of the stage, and brings his gossip and his anecdotes down to our own day. Such a book must have entailed enormous research, and we hope that it will be well rewarded.
