II
Through the first half of 1763 there was published in London a monthly
magazine called the _Theatrical Review, or Annals of the Drama_, an
anonymous miscellany of dramatic biography and criticism. It was a
colourless contribution to the journalism of the day, and lacked
powers of endurance. It ceased at the end of six months. The six
instalments were re-issued as "Volume I." at the end of June 1763; but
that volume had no successor.[39]
[Footnote 39: Other independent publications of similar character
appeared under the identical title of _The Theatrical Review_ both in
1758 and 1772. The latter collected the ephemeral dramatic criticisms
of John Potter, a well-known writer for the stage.]
All that is worth noting of the _Theatrical Review_ of 1763 now is
that among its contributors was an extremely interesting personality.
He was a young man of good education and independent means, who had
chambers in the Temple, and was enthusiastically applying himself to a
study of Shakespeare and Elizabethan dramatic literature. His name,
George Steevens, acquired in later years world-wide fame as that of
the most learned of Shakespearean commentators. Of the real value of
Steevens's scholarship no question is admissible, and his reputation
justly grew with his years.
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