Shakespeares tragedy of Macbeth, prepared for the stage / 1848

Manuscript, in a single hand, of a promptbook of Macbeth, written in an interleaved copy of a printed edition of the play. The handwritten notes provide stage directions; scene descriptions; and sound and lighting directions; as well as directions for unnamed characters. The notes also provide explanations for dramatic choices, such as the comment concerning Banquo's murderers, "These are disbanded officers & must therefore be represented as gentlemen not common cutthroats." Occasionally the writer has drawn diagrams of actors' positions or images of scenery; and at the end of the volume, he provides several detailed directions for combat sequences, including one for the final fight between Macbeth and Macduff, involving shoulder blows, leg blows, head blows, groans, and lunges