Maurice Morgann, was a colonial administrator and Shakespeare scholar, best known for the present work on the character of Falstaff, a leading character as the mentor of the young Prince Hal (later Henry V) in Henry IV parts one and two, and frequently referenced in Henry V. Morgann’s work contradicted the contention of Samuel Johnson that Falstaff was a drunken coward, claiming that he was instead a man of true courage, and of great complexity, his character being made up of opposites ‘at once young and old, enterprising and fat, a dupe and a wit, harmless and wicked, weak in principle and resolute by constitution, cowardly in appearance and brave in reality’. This copy was previously owned by Robert Farington, brother of the painter and diarist Joseph Farington.