William Dodd (29 May 1729 - 27 June 1777) was an English Anglican
clergyman and a man of letters. He lived extravagantly, and was
nicknamed the "Macaroni Parson." He dabbled in forgery in an effort
to clear his debts, was caught, convicted, and, despite a public
campaign for a Royal pardon, became the last person to be hanged at
Tyburn for forgery. The Beauties of Shakespear was his most
successful book and played a key role in reviving Shakespeare's
popularity. This is a facsimile edition.
From the author's preface to this collection of "Greatest
Hits"
I shall not attempt any labored encomiums of Shakspeare, or
endeavor to set forth his perfections, at a time when such
universal and just applause is paid him, and when every tongue is
big with his boundless fame. He himself tells us -
To gild refined gold, to paint the lily,
To throw a perfume on the violet,
To smooth the ice, or add another hue
Unto the rainbow, or with taper-light
To seek the beauteous eye of heaven to garnish,
Is wasteful and ridiculous excess."
And wasteful and ridiculous indeed it would be to say anything in
his praise, when presenting the world with such a collection of
Beauties as per- haps is nowhere to be met with, and, I may very
safely affirm, cannot be paralleled from the produc- tions of any
other single author, ancient or modern. There is scarcely a topic,
common with other writers, on which he has not excelled them all;
there are many nobly peculiar to himself, where he shines
unrivalled, and like the eagle, properest emblem of his daring
genius, soars beyond the common reach and gazes undazzled on the
sun.
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