Capell's Edition of 1767-1768

Edward Capell was known as an eccentric figure among editors of Shakespeare, an eccentricity that extends to the publication history of his edition of the plays.  He was obsessive in his personal habits.  According to Samuel Pegge "...to remove and misplace the most trifling thing in his room was a heinous offence" ("Brief Memoirs of Edward Capell, Esq.", by Samuel Pegge, Esq., in John Nichols, Illustrations of the Literary History of the Eighteenth Century, vol. I, 1817, p. 475).  By the good offices of the Duke of Grafton he was appointed Deputy Inspector of Plays in 1737, a position that earned him 200£ per year.  He later inherited the substantial income from his father of 1300£ per year which allowed him the liberty of pursuing his edition of Shakespeare's plays, which he labored over for many years.  He brought it forth in 1767-68 in octavo, without notes, returning to the style of Rowe.  It was, in fact, annotated, but the notes did not appear until until much later.  The first volume of notes on nine plays with a glossary appeared in 1774, "...but the sales were so poor that Capell withdrew the book from circulation..." (Murphy, Shakespeare in Print, p. 85).  In 1779 he published two volumes of his notes by subscription but again, sales were disappointing.  In 1783 the final volume of notes was published, the work being completed by John Collins, for Capell had died in 1781.  Capell's notes are titled Notes and Various Readings of Shakespeare, the final volume of which is titled The School of Shakespeare, but I have been unable to locate a copy on the Internet. 

Links to Capell's Edition of 1767-1768

Mr William Shakespeare his Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, set out by himself in quarto, or by his Players, his Fellows in folio, and now faithfully republish'd from those Editions in ten Volumes octavo ; with an Introduction: Whereunto will be added, in some other Volumes, Notes, critical and explanatory, and a Body of Various Readings entire. London, Printed by Dryden Leach, for J. and R. Tonson in the Strand.

The links given below are from the versions scanned for the Internet Archive.  Unfortunately it is not possible to link to individual sections within each work.  Even less fortunately, the set at the Internet Archive is not complete, lacking volume II.  Please contact me if you find a link to this volume.

• Volume I - Poems upon the author. Table of his editions. The tempest. The two gentlemen of Verona. The merry wives of Windsor. [Vol. I in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume II - Measure for measure. The comedy of errors. Much ado about nothing. Love's labour's lost. [Vol. II in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume III - A midsummer night's dream. The merchant of Venice. As you like it. The taming of the shrew. [Vol. III in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume IV - All's well that ends well. Twelfth night; or, What you will. The winter's tale. Macbeth. [Vol. IV in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume V - King John. Richard II. Henry IV. [Vol. V in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume VI - Henry V. Henry VI. [Vol. VI in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume VII - Richard III. Henry VIII. Coriolanus. [Vol. VII in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume VIII - Julius Cæsar. Antony and Cleopatra. Timon of Athens. Titus Andronicus. [Vol. VIII in searchable Snippet view from GBS]
• Volume IX - Troilus and Cressida. Cymbeline. King Lear.
• Volume X - Romeo and Juliet. Hamlet. Othello. [Vol. X in searchable Snippet view from GBS]