Excerpt from A Supplement to Dodsley's Old Plays, Vol. 2 of 4: Coventry Mysteries, Marriage of Wit and Wisdom, Moral Play of Wit and Science Three complete collections of ancient English mys' teries have descended to modern times, or rather are now known to be preserved, which are generally distinguished by the titles of the Chester, the Townley, and the Coventry Mysteries; and, with the exception of a few detached pieces of far inferior importance, we derive nearly all our actual knowledge of the early English drama from these series of plays, which have been long known to every one interested in this class of literary pursuits, as some of the most curious and valuable relics of bygone times; not merely as important records of our early stage, but also as illustrating, in a very interesting manner, the customs, language, and manners of the periods to which they be long. The only one of these series (which is, perhaps, the most important of all), that has yet been printed, is the Townley, Which was published by the Surtees So ciety, with a very interesting and learned preface by Mr. Hunter. The Coventry is contained in the follow ing volume; and the Chester, so ably commented upon by Mr. Markland, a gentleman to whom belongs the dis tinction of being the first in recent times to direct pnblieattention to these researches, has already been under the consideration of the Council of the Society under Whose auspices the present volume is produced. 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.