PREFACE.

THIS is an attempt to throw together, for the use of laymen as well as of the profession, the law governing the most usual kinds of public amusement in London and the Provinces. As far as I am aware, there is no work dealing with the subject in a separate form. I had at first proposed to include a Chapter on Copyright, but that branch of the subject has been so amply treated in works specially devoted to Copyright, that I felt that in dealing with such a matter I should only be going over ground which had been more worthily occupied before me. I wish to take this opportunity of thanking Mr. James Williams, of the Northern Circuit, for much trouble bestowed upon other parts of the Work besides the Introduction, for which he alone is responsible. In addition, I must acknowledge my obligations to Mr. E. F. S. Pigott, the Examiner of Stage Plays, to Mr. Wilson Barrett and Mr. Augustus Moore, and to the Town Clerks and Clerks to the Justices of numerous towns in Great Britain, for the courtesy and assistance which I have

received from them. Where the name of a town of importance does not occur in the Appendix, it is to be presumed either that there are no local regulations or that no information has been received. Any suggestions, whether from members of the profession or others, will be welcomed in view of a second Edition.

2, PUMP COURT, TEMPLE,

25th March, 1885.

W. N. M. G.