But the criticism woke him up from such ecstasies. From time to time she asked him the question of what the mysterious book was like; she became convinced that there existed only in his head, and at last said that it was not to be complained that his book had been an antiquated one, for one had long since passed over him and his Shakspeare crickets. To Tieck’s romantic criticism, daily writers, critical philologists, and literary literary historians wanted to become knights.
That presumption has proved incorrect, and how far the new criticism is right with its claims will prove itself when the critical acts on Shakspeare are closed. Tieck’s view has remained clear until the very end. A few months before his death, when he was sent the necklace of Collier’s Shakspeare from London, which contains the newly discovered emendations, he said: “I can see nothing special in it; the good improvements have been known for a long time, and the new ones are expendable. “Here he agreed with the view of the critic who had subjected him to even the harshest censorship.
