George Colman was a playwright and for seven years the acting manager at Covent Garden theatre. He had originally trained as a barrister but on the death of his patron transferred his interest to the theatre. He wrote many adaptations of modern plays for use in the theatre, and also produced adaptations of some of Shakespeare’s works. This edition of his works was published in 1777. Volume 3 contains his version of King Lear, which George III read during one of his bouts of porphyria.