NOTES.
Note I.
Act i. Scene i. In this play the Acts and Scenes are marked in the Folios only as far as the second Scene of the second Act, and not at all in the Quartos.
Note II.
I. 1. 91. This and other emendations of the MS. corrector, not recorded by Mr Collier, are given on the authority of Mr Hamilton (An Enquiry into the Genuineness of the MS. Corrections in Mr J. Payne Collier's annotated Shakespeare, pp. 34—85).
Note III.
I. 3. 74. The following are the readings of the different editions and the emendations which have been proposed for this line:
'Are of a most select and generall chiefe in that:' (Q1).
'Or of a most select and generous, chiefe in that:' Q2 Q3.
'Ar of a most select and generous, cheefe in that:' Q4.
'Are of a most select and generous, chiefe in that:' Q5 Q6.
'Are of a most select and generous cheff in that.' Ff.
'Are most select and generous, chief in that.'
Rowe, Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, Johnson, Capell, Steevens (1793), Rann, Caldecott, Singer, Harness, Delius, &c.
'Are most select, and generous, chief in that.' Steevens (1773).
'Are most select, and generous chief, in that.'
Steevens (1778 and 1785).
'Are of a most select and generous chief, in that.' Malone.
'Select and generous, are most choice in that.' Steevens conj.
'Are of a most select and generous choice in that.'
Collier MS., adopted by Elze, Collier, ed. 2, and Keightley.
'Are of a most select and generous sheaf in that.' Staunton.
'Are most select and generous in that.' Grant White.
'Are of a most select and generous class in that.' Bullock conj.
'Are of a most select and generous choice.' Lloyd conj.
Note IV.
I. 3. 109. The second and third Quartos include the words 'not ... thus' in a parenthesis. In the fourth, fifth, and sixth, the parenthesis ends at 'phrase;' an arrangement, which was adopted by Pope and corrected by Theobald at Warburton's suggestion. The Folios have no parenthesis.
Note V.
I. 3. 117. Malone conjectured that some epithet to 'blazes' has been omitted; and Coleridge 'did not doubt that a spondee had dropt out of the line.' He proposed either 'Go to, these blazes, daughter,' or 'these blazes, daughter, mark you.' Notes and Lectures, 1. p. 220 (ed. 1849).
Note VI.
I. 4. 36, 37. We have left this corrupt passage unaltered because none of the conjectures proposed appear to be satisfactory.
Rann, reading in his text:
'The dram of base
Doth all the noble substance of worth out
To his own scandal....'
gives some conjectures, without naming the authors, in a note thus: 'Doth all, &c. oft corrupt: oft work out: eat out: By it's own scandal.'
The first of these alterations, 'oft corrupt,' anticipates one which Mitford published as his own, and the third, 'eat out,' is borrowed from the author of 'the Revisal' (Heath).
Mr Grant White suggests that "the corruption lurks in a part of the passage hitherto unsuspected, and that 'Doth' is either a misprint of 'Hath,' or has the sense of 'accomplishes.'" Mr Keightley reads,
'The dram of evil
Doth all the noble substance, out o' doubt,
To his own scandal....'
marking the sentence as incomplete.
Note VII.
I. 4. 61. Steevens says 'The first Folio reads—remote.' We have not been able to find this reading in any copy of that edition which we have consulted. Sir Frederic Madden has kindly collated for us the four copies in the British Museum, all of which have 'remoued.' This is also the reading of Capell's copy, of Malone's, and of two others to which we have had access, and it is the reading in Mr Booth's reprint.
Note VIII.
I. 5. 80. 'A very learned lady,' probably Mrs Montagu, suggested to Johnson that this line 'O, horrible! O, horrible! most horrible!' should be given to Hamlet, and it is said that Garrick adopted this suggestion when he played Hamlet. Rann appears to be the first editor who put it in his text. Mr Verplanck and Mr Hudson have followed his example.
In the Quarto of 1603, (Q1), the Ghost says 'O horrible, most horrible!' and Hamlet interrupts with 'O God!'
Note IX.
I. 5. 113-116. The second Quarto followed by the rest reads thus:
'Enter Horatio, and Marcellus.
Hora. My Lord, my Lord.
Mar. Lord Hamlet.
Hora. Heauens secure him.
Ham. So be it.
Mar. Illo, ho, ho, my Lord.'
The Folios have:
'Hor. & Mar. within. My Lord, my Lord.
Enter Horatio and Marcellus.
Mar. Lord Hamlet.
Hor. Heauen secure him.
Mar. So be it.
Hor. Illo, ho, ho, my Lord.'
Capell first transferred the stage direction 'Enter Horatio and Marcellus' to follow line 117, and added the direction 'within' to all the previous speeches. In this he has been followed by Steevens (1778) and all subsequent editors. As however the first Quarto, which was taken down probably during the representation of the play, puts the words Enter Horatio, and Marcellus opposite 'My Lord, my Lord,' it is probable that they really entered at that place but were supposed, it being night-time, not to be seen by Hamlet till they were close to him.
Capell followed the Quartos in assigning 'So be it' to Hamlet.
Note X.
I. 5. 157-160. The second Quarto followed substantially by the rest reads thus:
'Come hether Gentlemen,
And lay your hands againe vpon my sword,
Sweare by my sword
Neuer to speak of this that you haue heard.'
The first Folio has:
'Come hither Gentlemen,
And lay your hands again upon my sword,
Neuer to speake of this that you have heard:
Sweare by my Sword.'
The following Folios put a full stop after 'sword' in the second line.
Capell, taking the order of words from the Quartos, arranged as three lines, thus:
'Come hither, gentlemen, and lay your hands
Again upon my sword; Swear by my sword,
Never to speak of this that you have heard.'
The first Quarto supports the order of the words as found in the Folio. Perhaps we might follow it and arrange the words of the Folio in three lines ending 'hands' ... 'speak' ... 'sword.'
Note XI.
II. 1. 79. Theobald, who is followed by Hanmer, Warburton, and Johnson, reads 'loose' for 'foul'd,' on the authority as he says of 'the elder Quartos.' It is not the reading of any of the first six, but of those of 1676, 1683, 1695 and 1703. Had Capell been aware of this, he would scarcely have designated Theobald's mistake as 'a downright falsehood.' Theobald, at the time of writing his 'Shakespeare Restored,' knew of no Quarto earlier than that of 1637 (Shakespeare Restored, p. 70), and it is just possible that some copy of this edition (Q6), from which that of 1676 was printed, may have had the reading 'loose.' We have given in the note to III. 4. 59 an instance of different readings in two copies of Q6.
Note XII.
II. 2. 111, 112. In the Quartos Polonius's comment, 'that's an ill phrase ...,' is printed in italics like the letter, and there is some confusion in the next line. The second, third, fourth and fifth have 'but you shall heare: thus in her excellent white bosom, these &c.' The sixth puts a comma after 'heare.' In the Folios these last words are printed in Roman type as if they were part of Polonius's comment, thus: 'but you shall heare these in her excellent white bosome, these.'
Rowe printed: 'but you shall hear—These to her excellent white bosom, these—'
The succeeding editors followed Rowe, down to Capell who restored the word 'in' for 'to.' The reading and punctuation of our text was first given substantially by Jennens, and adopted by Malone.
Note XIII.
II. 2. 123. In the fourth and fifth Quartos the word 'Hamlet,' in italics, is by mistake printed not at the end of the letter but opposite to the first line of Polonius's speech.
Note XIV.
II. 2. 169. The Quartos have 'Enter Hamlet' after 'try it,' line 166, and 'Exit King and Queene' after the words 'both away,' line 168. The Folios have 'Enter Hamlet, reading on a Booke' after 'try it,' line 166, and 'Exit King & Queen' after 'presently,' line 169. The Quartos put commas at 'presently,' and 'leave,' reading 'Ile ... leave' as one line; the Folios put full stops, reading 'Oh give me leave. How does my good Lord Hamlet?' as one line.
The earlier editors down to Johnson inclusive made no change.
Capell supposed the words 'O, give me leave' to be addressed, not to Hamlet, but to the King and Queen, whose Exeunt he placed after these words. His arrangement has been followed by all subsequent editors, till we ventured, in the Globe edition, to recur to the old order. It appears to us that the words 'O, give me leave,' commencing with an exclamation, are more naturally addressed to Hamlet than to the King and Queen, with whom Polonius had been previously conversing.
Mr Dyce transferred the entrance of Hamlet to follow the Exeunt of the King and Queen, line 169. As in the first Quarto he is made to enter earlier, it is possible that he was in sight of the audience, though so intent on his book as not to observe the presence of the others.
Note XV.
II. 2. 564. Capell quotes 'braves' as the reading of the Quarto of 1605. His own copy has 'braines.' That in the British Museum reads 'braues.'
Note XVI.
III. 1. 86. In this doubtful passage we have retained the reading of the Quartos, although the players' Quartos of 1676, 1683, 1695, 1703, have, contrary to their custom, followed the Folios, which may possibly indicate that 'pith' was the reading according to the stage tradition.
Note XVII.
III. 2. 156, 157. Jennens prints in brackets the line of the Quartos which we have omitted, and conjectures, as Johnson had done before him, that a line is lost either before or after it, which should rhyme to 'love.' As in the Quartos the line 'For women feare too much, even as they love,' occurs at the top of a page, the omission is more likely to have been caused by a line having dropped out at the foot of the previous page. Mr Keightley marks the omission of a line after 'love.' Malone supposes that the 'Either none' of the Quartos in line 158 was the commencement of the lost line, which he suggests may have run as follows:
'Either none they feel, or an excess approve.'
Steevens proposes to retain the omitted line, reading 'lust' for 'love,' making a triplet rhyme with the preceding lines.
The Quarto probably gives us the author's first thought, incomplete, as well as the lines which he finally adopted, as they stand in the Folio. The thought will hardly bear to be expanded over four lines.
Note XVIII.
III. 2. 329. Mason conjectured that the words 'To withdraw with you' were spoken to the players whom Hamlet wished to get rid of, and proposed to read 'So, withdraw you,' or 'So withdraw, will you?' Malone adds the stage direction 'Taking Guil. aside.' Steevens supposes that the words 'To ... you' "may refer to some gesture which Guildenstern had used, and which, at first was interpreted by Hamlet into a signal for him to attend the speaker into another room. 'To withdraw with you?' (says he) 'Is that your meaning?'" Mr Staunton, agreeing substantially with Mason, proposes to read 'So,—[taking a recorder] withdraw with you.' He adds that the disputed words may have been intended to mark the departure of the players. Jackson (1819) proposed the same reading and explanation, adding a stage direction, 'To the Players, who exit.'
If the reading and punctuation given in our text be right, the words seem to be addressed to Guildenstern. Mr Knight, however, suggests that 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern have intimated, by some signal, that they wish to speak with Hamlet in private.'
Note XIX.
III. 2. 366—371. In this passage we have followed the distribution of the Folios. In the Quartos it stands thus:
'They foole me to the top of my bent, I will come by and by,
Leaue me friends.
I will, say so. By and by is easily said,
'Tis now &c.'
In the Quarto of 1676 the words 'I will come ... said' are marked in inverted commas to indicate that they were omitted by the actors. Pope following the arrangement of the Quartos, reading 'I will say so' with the Quarto of 1676.
Note XX.
III. 4. 4. We have adopted Hanmer's correction 'sconce' for 'silence' because in the corresponding passage of the first Quarto Polonius says: 'I'le shrowde my selfe behinde the Arras.' The Quartos of 1676, 1683, 1695 and 1703 give 'I'll here conceal my self.'
In the Quarto of 1603 there is also a trace of the following speech of Hamlet, omitted in the subsequent Quartos but given in the Folios.
Note XXI.
III. 4. 51, 52. This speech is properly given to the Queen in the Folios, but is printed as prose. The second Quarto has:
'Quee. Ay me, what act?
Ham. That roares so low'd, and thunders in the Index,
Looke heere &c.'
This is followed by the subsequent Quartos, except the sixth, which has a colon at 'Index.' Warburton adopts the distribution of the Quartos, but alters the second line thus:
'Ham. That roars so loud, it thunders to the Indies.'
Note XXII.
III. 4. 71. The reading 'stoop' for 'step' is found in manuscript in the margin of a copy of the Quarto of 1637, which has been kindly lent us by Dr Ingleby. The other readings in this play referred to as 'Anon. conj. MS.' or 'Anon. MS.' are from the same source.
Note XXIII.
IV. 1. 40—44. In the second and third Quartos these lines stand literatim as follows:
'And whats vntimely doone,
Whose whisper ore the worlds dyameter,
As leuell as the Cannon to his blanck,
Transports his poysned shot, may misse our Name,
And hit the woundlesse ayre, ô come away,
My soule &c.'
The later Quartos, including those of 1676, 1683, 1695, and 1703, spelling apart, have the same reading.
In the first Folio, followed substantially by the rest, we find only these words:
'And what's vntimely done. Oh come away,
My soule &c.'
Rowe, Pope, Hanmer and Warburton followed the Folios.
Theobald first adopted the text of the Quartos. In his Shakespeare Restored, p. 108, he had suggested 'Happily, slander,' or 'Happily, rumour;' in his edition he supplied the blank thus:
'And what's untimely done. For, haply, Slander
(Whose whisper &c.'
Hanmer, in his copy of Theobald's edition, erased the passage with a pen.
Johnson, and Steevens in his editions of 1773, 1778 and 1785, followed Theobald.
Capell filled the hiatus by 'So, haply, slander,' and was followed by Steevens (1793) and most modern editors. Mason seems not to have consulted Capell's edition, for in 1788 he puts forward this reading as a conjecture of his own.
Malone (1790) read: 'So viperous slander.'
Mr Staunton proposes 'Thus calumny,' but in his text follows Capell.
'Malice' or 'Envy,' in the sense in which it is often used by Shakespeare, would suit the passage as well as 'Slander.'
Note XXIV.
IV. 2. 1—3. The second and third Quartos begin the scene thus:
'Ham. Safely stowd, but soft, what noyse, who calls on Hamlet?'
The fourth and fifth have 'softly' for 'soft.'
The Folios have:
'Ham. Safely stowed.
Gentlemen within. Hamlet, Lord Hamlet.
Ham. What noise? Who cals on Hamlet?'
In the players' Quarto of 1676, and the following editions, which otherwise adhere to the reading of the old Quartos, the words 'but soft' are omitted. They omit also 'on'.
Capell gives:
'Ham.—— Safely stow'd. But, soft;
Ros. &c. [within.] Hamlet! lord Hamlet!
Ham. What noise? who calls on Hamlet? O, here they come.'
The arrangement adopted in our text was first given by Malone.
Note XXV.
IV. 5. 14—16. The Quartos have:
'Hora. Twere good she were spoken with, for shee may strew
Dangerous coniectures in ill breeding mindes,
Let her come in.'
The Folios,
'Qu. 'Twere good she were spoken with,
For she may strew dangerous coniectures
In ill breeding minds. Let her come in.'
Rowe followed the Folios; Pope, Theobald, Warburton and Capell, the Quartos. Hanmer continues the lines ''Twere good ... minds' to the Gentleman who had spoken the previous lines, and gives 'Let her come in &c.' to the Queen. Johnson follows Hanmer's distribution of the speeches, but substitutes 'Hor.' for 'Gent.' in lines 2 and 4; the arrangement proposed by Blackstone. Steevens (1773) assigned the speech ''Twere good ... spilt' (14—20) to Horatio, but restored it to the Queen in his next edition. Mr Grant White follows the Folios in giving the whole Speech to the Queen, but marks ''Twere good ... minds' as spoken aside, and 'Let ... in' 'To Hor.'
Note XXVI.
IV. 5. 148. In the Quartos the passage is thus printed:
'A noyse within.
Enter Ophelia.
Laer. Let her come in.
How now, what noyse is that?'
In the Folios:
'A noise within. Let her come in.
Enter Ophelia.
Laer. How now? what noise is that?'
Rowe followed the Folios, Pope the Quartos, reading 'Let ... that?' as one line. Theobald first transferred the stage direction, Enter Ophelia, to follow the first line of Laertes's speech.
Note XXVII.
IV. 5. 163. Capell was the first to print these words as not forming part of the song. In the Folios they are printed like the former lines in italics. As there is no change of type in the Quartos, it is impossible to say on which side their authority is. There is a comma after 'teare' (or 'tear') in all the Quartos and Folios, except the sixth Quarto, which has a full stop.
Note XXVIII.
IV. 5. 166. Ophelia's speech, or song, is printed as three lines in the Quarto, thus:
'Oph. You must sing a downe a downe,
And you call him a downe a. O how the wheele becomes it,
It is the false Steward that stole his Maisters daughter.'
It is printed as prose in the Folios; beginning, 'You must sing downe a-downe, &c.' There is no indication that any part was meant to be sung.
Johnson first printed 'You must sing ... call him a-down-a' in italics, as a snatch of song. Steevens (1778) put 'Down a down, as you call him a-down-a' in italics, a reading suggested by Capell's text, where 'Down' begins with a capital letter. The late Mr John Taylor, in a copy of the second Variorum edition (1813) now in the Library of Trinity College, Cambridge, has made the following note. "Ophelia gives the song without the Burthen first, and then she instructs them 'You must sing a-down a-down, and you (speaking to another) call him a-down-a."
Note XXIX.
IV. 5. 195. In the Folios Ophelia's song is printed in Italics, and the words 'And ... you' in Roman type, 'God buy ye' being in a separate line. In the second and third Quartos the whole is printed in Roman type, and ends thus:
'God a mercy on his soule, and of all Christians soules,
God buy you.'
We have indicated in the foot-note how the later Quartos differ from the earlier.
Note XXX.
IV. 7. 139. Pope in his second edition says that 'one edition has it, embaited or envenomed.' We have not been able to find this reading in any copy, but Theobald (Shakespeare Restored, p. 119) conjectured 'imbaited.' As this conjecture is not mentioned in his edition, we have here, as in other cases, recorded it as 'withdrawn.'
Note XXXI.
V. 1. 57, 58. Mr Collier in his first edition conjectured that 'Yaughan' might be 'a mis-spelt stage direction to inform the player that he was to yawn at this point.' Mr Staunton says, "Whether by 'Yaughan' a man or place is meant, or whether the word is a corruption, we are not qualified to determine." Mr Grant White says, "I suspect that 'Yaughan' is a misprint for 'Tavern.' But some local allusion understood at the day may lurk under it."
Note XXXII.
V. 2. 205, 206. The reading in the text is taken partly from the Folios and partly from the Quartos, altering however the punctuation. The second Quarto, followed substantially by the rest, has as follows:
'The readines is all, since no man of ought he leaues, knowes what
ist to leaue betimes, let be.'
The first Folio, followed, except in spelling, by the rest, has:
'The readinesse is all, since no man ha's ought of what he leaues.
What is't to leaue betimes?'
The Quartos of 1676, 1683, 1695 and 1703 have:
'The readiness is all, since no man of ought he leaves knows what
'tis to leave betimes, let be.'
Rowe, Pope and Theobald followed the Folios.
Hanmer:
'The readiness is all. Since no man owes aught of what he leaves,
what is't to leave betimes?'
Warburton:
'The readiness is all. Since no man, of ought he leaves, knows,
what is't to leave betimes? Let be.'
Johnson:
'The readiness is all. Since no man knows aught of what he
leaves, what is't to leave betimes?'
Steevens (1773, 1778, 1785) and Rann adopt the reading of Johnson, adding the words 'Let be.'
Warburton's reading was followed by Capell, Malone, Steevens (1793), the Editors of the three Variorum Shakespeares, 1803, 1813, 1821, Singer, Harness and Mr Collier.
Caldecott first adopted the reading given in our text. Mr Grant White follows him.
Becket would substitute 'has thought' for 'has aught.'
Mr Keightley prints thus, marking the sentence as unfinished:
'The readiness is all. Since no man, of aught he leaves, knows
what it is to leave betimes.... Let be.'
Note XXXIII.
V. 2. 290. Mr Staunton says, "The exclamation 'Ho!' meaning stop, should perhaps be addressed to the combatants, and not, as it is always printed, to those who are to raise the Queen."