Online text (1753 edition): Vol. I - Vol. II - Vol. III - Vol. IV

Didactic poem. The first version is of twenty lines and is found in number 113 (Tuesday, December 9, 1735) of the Prompter, a biweekly publication published by Aaron Hill along with William Popple from November 1734 to July 1736. The lines were later extended to 80 in another poem, also entitled The Actor's Epitome and published posthumously in the fourth volume (pp. 76-80) of the The Works of the Late Aaron Hill, Esq.; In Four Volumes. Consisting of Letters on Various Subjects, And of Original Poems, Moral and Facetious, With an Essay on the Art of Acting (London, Printed for the Benefit of the Family, 1753; second edition: London, Printed for the Benefit of the Family, 1754).