The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
A SELECT COLLECTION
OF
OLD ENGLISH PLAYS.
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED BY ROBERT DODSLEY
IN THE YEAR 1744.
FOURTH EDITION.
NOW FIRST CHRONOLOGICALLY ARRANGED, REVISED AND ENLARGEDWITH THE NOTES OF ALL THE COMMENTATORS,AND NEW NOTES
BY
W. CAREW HAZLITT.
BENJAMIN BLOM, INC.
New York
First published 1874-1876
Reissued 1964 by Benjamin Blom, Inc.
L.C. Catalog Card No.: 64-14702
Printed in U.S.A. by
NOBLE OFFSET PRINTERS, INC.
NEW YORK 3, N.Y.
[Pg 1]
THE OLD COUPLE
A WOMAN NEVER VEXED.
THE ORDINARY
THE LONDON CHANTICLEERS.
THE SHEPHERDS' HOLIDAY.
FUIMUS TROES: THE TRUE TROJANS
THE LOST LADY.
[Pg 2]
 THE OLD COUPLE
 EDITION.
The Old Couple. A Comedy. By Thomas May, Esq.;London, Printed by J. Cottrel, for Samuel Speed, atthe signe of the Printing-press in S. Paul's Churchyard.1658. 4o.
[A MS. note in one of the former editions says:"This comedy is pleasingly and fluently written, andthough it contains little poetry, is not without someeloquent and beautiful passages. The first scene is thebest in the play."]
[Pg 3]
INTRODUCTION
It seems probable that this comedy, as it is called, wasnever acted, and on the title-page of the old edition(not printed until 1658, eight years after the death ofthe author), it is not mentioned that it was performedby any private or public company. This fact wasusually stated, though during the period when thetheatres were silenced exceptions were not veryuncommon. It is pretty obvious, however, from thegeneral structure of the piece and the nature of thedialogue, that "The Old Couple" was not calculated orintended by the author to please the multitude. Noinconsiderable part of the plot, and some of thecharacters, may be considered allegorical, and for thesake of preserving it, some constraint is used in a fewof the incidents, and forced and unnatural conversionstake place among the persons.[1]
[Pg 4]
As to the period when it was written, judging frominternal evidence, it might be thought that May produced"The Old Couple" late in life, and it was certainlythe last printed of any of his works. It will beobserved that two lines in the last scene of this playclose                        
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