Excerpt from Shakespeare Studies: And Essay and Essay on English Dictionaries Thomas Spencer Baynes, the writer of these essays, was born at Wellington, in Somersetshire, on the 24th of March, 1823, and died in London, on the 31st of May, 1887. His father, Joseph Baynes, was for fifty years the minister of the Baptist congregation at Wellington; and his mother, whose maiden name was Ash, was a descendant of Ash, the lexicographer. Thomas Spencer's childhood and early youth were spent in his native Somersetshire, amid scenes and associations which left a deep and permanent impression upon an unusually receptive mind; and the dialect and folk-lore of the district contributed much to the enrichment of his later studies in English. To the simple and pious surroundings of his paternal home there were added many delightful memories of Rumhill House, the neighbouring country seat of Mr. and Mrs. Cadbury, where much of his boyhood was passed. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.