The Works of Aphra Behn, Vol. I

Works of Aphra Behn, Vol. I (of 3), by Aphra Behn

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Title: The Works of Aphra Behn, Vol. I (of 3)
Author: Aphra Behn
Editor: Montague Summers
Release Date: May 5, 2007 [EBook #21339]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Transcriber's Note:
"The Rover" Parts I and II are separate plays.
Part II is a sequel.
In transcriptions of original documents, letters printed as superscripts are shown in braces { }. Descriptions of illustrations are given in parentheses ( ).
In the original book, all Notes were printed in a block at the end of the volume. For this e-text they have been divided among their respective plays, retaining the distinction between "Notes on the Text" and "Notes: Critical and Explanatory". Errors and anomalies are similarly listed at the end of the section in which they are found: the General Introduction and each of the four plays. Relevant Transcriber's Notes are repeated at the beginning of each section.
Students should note that the editorial material (1915) is sometimes significantly at variance with current (2007) Behn scholarship.]

[Illustration: (Portrait of Aphra Behn)]

THE WORKS
of
APHRA BEHN
Edited by MONTAGUE SUMMERS
VOL. I
The Rover (
Part I); or, The Banish'd Cavaliers
The Rover (
Part II); or, The Banish'd Cavaliers
The Dutch Lover The Round-Heads; or, The Good Old Cause
[Illustration: (Publisher's Device)]
LONDON: WILLIAM HEINEMANN STRATFORD-ON-AVON: A. H. BULLEN MCMXV

To Francis James, this the first collected edition of Aphra Behn.

CONTENTS. Page
Preface xiii Introduction xv The Rover (
Part I); or, The Banish'd Cavaliers 1
The Rover (
Part II); or, The Banish'd Cavaliers 109
The Dutch Lover 215 The Roundheads; or, The Good Old Cause 331 Notes 427

PREFACE.
It is perhaps not altogether easy to appreciate the multiplicity of difficulties with which the first editor of Mrs. Behn has to cope. Not only is her life strangely mysterious and obscure, but the rubbish of half-a-dozen romancing biographers must needs be cleared away before we can even begin to see daylight. Matter which had been for two centuries accepted on seemingly the soundest authority is proven false; her family name itself was, until my recent discovery, wrongly given; the very question of her portrait has its own vexed (and until now unrecognized) dilemmas. In fine there seems no point connected with our first professional authoress which did not call for the nicest investigation and the most incontrovertible proof before it could be accepted without suspicion or reserve. The various collections of her plays and novels which appeared in the first half of the eighteenth century give us nothing; nay, they rather cumber our path with the trash of discredited Memoirs. Pearson's reprint (1871) is entirely valueless: there is no attempt, however meagre, at editing, no effort to elucidate a single allusion; moreover, several of the Novels-- and the Poems in their entirety-- are lacking. I am happy to give (Vol. V) one of the Novels, and that not the least important, The History of the Nun, for the first time in any collected edition. Poems, in addition to those which appeared in Mrs. Behn's lifetime, and were never reprinted after, have been gathered with great care from many sources (of which some were almost forgotten).
It is hoped that this new issue of Mrs. Behn may prove adequate. Any difficulties in the editing have been more than amply compensated for by the interest shown by many friends. Foremost, my best thanks are due to Mr. Bullen, whose life-long experience of the minuti? of editing our best dramatic literature, has been ungrudgingly at my service throughout, to the no small advantage of myself and my work. Mr. Edmund Gosse, C.B., has shown the liveliest interest in the book from its inception, and I owe him most grateful recognition for his kindly encouragement and aid. Nay, more, he did not spare to lend me treasured items from his library so rich in first, and boasting unique, editions of Mrs. Behn. Mr. G. Thorn Drury, K.C., never wearied of answering my enquiries, and in discussion solved many a knotty point. To him I am obliged for the transcript of Mrs. Behn's letter to Waller's daughter-in-law, and also the Satire on Dryden. He even gave of his valuable time to read through the Memoir and from the superabundance of his knowledge made suggestions of the first importance. The unsurpassed library of Mr. T. J. Wise, the well-known bibliographer, was freely at my disposal. In other cases where I have received any assistance in