PRINTED FOR WASHBOURN AND SON, GLOU- CESTER; G. WILLIAMS, CHELTENHAM; AND 1823. MD PREFACE. THE author of this Lecture being the first who ever attempted to entertain an audience for four hours by himself, without a change of person, although he sometimes changed his appearance by a wig, &c. the undertaking, though novel, was extremely hazardous; notwithstanding, he met with extraordinary success in London, and afterwards delivered it with a continuance of that suecess in almost every principal town, in, England, and Ireland. During this itinerant stage of its exhibition, it had received great improvements, and additions from the hints and saggestions of Shuter, Howard, Churchill, and many, qther wits of that day. It therefore re-appeared in London, almost a new performance, and met with increased approbation. After the author's death, Mr. Lee Lewis, and other comedians, delivered it (with temporary alterations) in the East Indies, and various parts of this kingdom, with considerable applause. The success of this Lecture has occasioned many similar attempts. We have had a Lecture on Hearts, a Brush for rubbing off Care, Portraits, &c. &c.; but though assisted with music, they have never acquired the popularity that has marked the present undertaking, which unquestionably possesses every quality of true satire. The heads and their dresses compose the picturesque -the assumption of character and dialogue by the lecturer, the dramatic-and the lively description of manners, the judicious propriety and pertinence of observation, the narrative:-herein are therefore united the most remarkable species of satire, The wit, also, is as various as the subjects which it satirizes; its brilliancy charms, its poignancy convicts while it chastises, its pertinency adorns the sentiment or observation it would illustrate, and its variety always entertains, but never satiates. Even the author's puits please from the aptness and pleasantry of their conceits. The characters are such as will be found to exist with nature, and compose every part of the community. The old and young, the rich and poor, male and female, married and unmarried, and those of every learned and unlearned profession, are the subjects of the author's whimsical, yet judicious censure. The language is both lively and delicate. In short, this entertainment abounds in more wit, humour, and character, than can be found in any of our modern comedies. A work of such acknowledged merit, which has never yet been presented to the public in a suitable form, cannot be unacceptable to the admirers of real wit and humour. It has survived its author, and will outlive even his successors. All due at tention, therefore, has been paid to the present edition, in which it will appear that an entire new arrangement has been adopted, every fresh subject or character bearing appropriate heads, in order that references may be made by the reader with greater facility, and that the lecturer may be apprised of what action, tone of voice, gestures, &c. the respective parts may require. The ingenious additions which were made by Mr. Pilon are retained, except where the vicissitudes of fashion required some change, in which case we have substituted original additions, as specified in our notes, at the same time adhering as closely as possible to Stevens's text. Thus modernized, this Lecture on Heads may still afford entertainment either on the stage or in the closet, particularly when it is recollected that it was once the most popular exhibition of the age. Our author's Songs having been also esteemed as choice effusions of wit and pleasantry, are here given without any alterations from the original text; for being chiefly devoted to Venus and Bacchus, the subjects seem as well adapted to the present day as to that period in which they were produced. Those entertaining compositions, which for the first time, accompany the author's Lecture on Heads, cannot fail to render the present volume doubly interesting to the lovers of Whim and Fancy. |