CORIOLANUS stands highest of all Shakspere's Plays as regards the number of its Emphasis-Capitals. For some reason unknown to us, the Editors of the First Folio placed in their Index this Tragedy at the head of the others, but we agree with those who believe that it was one of the Poet's latest Works, and written in his well-earned retirement. Our concurrence in this view, however, is mainly based on its wealth of these Guiding Letters, for where any of the Plays is unusually rich in such, there we seem to see the reflection of a fresh Manuscript, or at least one, undefaced and unmeddled with.

Extending to about 3,783 lines, it is Shakspere's second longest work, Hamlet alone exceeding it in this respect, and by a trifling difference, -Coriolanus exhibits in the Original Folio about 2,142 Emphasis-Capitals, of which number the After Folios, during their course of 62 years, dropped only 225, a fact which manifests a strong conservative spirit on the part of their Editors, whoever they were. On the other hand, of New Emphasis-Capitals, the Folios of 1632, 1664, and 1685 contributed among them 701, the Second and Third Folios supplying between them 24 only of this large number, which to us is satisfactory evidence that their Printers took the First Folio to be perfect, with the exception of a few typographical errors, the most of which they corrected (committing many more of their own), and that, otherwise, they adhered to it unquestioningly, their trifling additions in the way of New Emphasis-Capitals being either the result of accident, or the mechanical effect of a prevailing rule. Of the additions of this nature, made by the Third Folio for instance, 8 were to the same word, "People," and this they could hardly avoid, as it is one of the keynotes of the Tragedy, and so printed in scores of places. Differing far from this, the Fourth Folio,-hitherto much decried, but possessors of which we think are to be envied, -contributed not fewer than 677, and not one without value, so far as we are able to judge.

Altogether, of Original and Supplemented Emphasis - Capitals, Coriolanus possesses 2,843.