"had all the speeches been printed without the very names of the persons, I believe one might have applied them with certainty to every speaker."

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Added on April 10, 2026
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Poets from EnglandPlaywrights from EnglandActors from EnglandPoets from the United KingdomShakespeare
Original Language: English

Sources

Alexander Pope, Preface to the Works of Shakespeare (1725). Compare Addison on Homer: "there is scarce a speech or action in the Iliad, which the reader may not ascribe to the person who speaks or acts, without seeing his name at the head of it." in The Spectator, No. 273 (12 January 1711–12).