IV. 2. 117. It is extremely doubtful whether the reading of the first Folio in this passage is 'eare' or 'care'. The first letter of the word is broken, but we are inclined to believe that is a broken 'e' and not a broken 'c', and in this we are supported by the opinion of Sir F. Madden and Mr Hamilton. Mr Staunton informs us that in Lord Ellesmere's Folio, it is more like a defective Italic e than any other letter, but in the two copies of F1 before us it is certainly Roman, whether 'c' or 'e'. On the other hand, Mr Charles Wright is in favour of an italic c. Under these circumstances, we have left 'care' in the text.
[Note XXV.]
IV. 3. 33. Mr Collier mentions that the Duke of Devonshire's copy of the first Folio reads 'man' instead of 'mans,' which is in the ordinary copies. The error was corrected no doubt while the sheet was passing through the press, and after some copies had been struck off, in accordance with the practice which was common in printing-offices at the beginning of the 17th century.
[Note XXVI.]
V. 2. 64. 'And even there, methinks, an angel spake.' None of the interpretations of this line hitherto suggested are at all satisfactory. Surely the close proximity of 'purse,' 'nobles,' and 'angel,' shews that Shakespeare has here yielded to the fascination of a jeu de mots, which he was unable to resist, however unsuitable the occasion might be. The Dauphin, we may suppose, speaks 'aside,' with an accent and gesture which mark his contempt for the mercenary allies whom he intends to get rid of as soon as may be. See V. 4. 30-39.
[Note XXVII.]
V. 3. 8, 17. There can be no doubt, as has been pointed out to us by Mr Hopkinson of Stamford, that 'Swinstead' is an error for 'Swineshead,' the place of King John's death. The same fact was communicated to Reed by Mr Dodd, the then vicar of Swineshead. But as the mistake occurs in the old Quarto, which Shakespeare follows, we have not felt justified in removing it from the text.
[Note XXVIII.]
V. 4. 14. Sidney Walker (Criticisms, II. 234) suggests as another solution of the difficulty in this passage that a line may have been lost after 'loud day.' Mr Keightley has independently made the same conjecture. In support of the reading which we propose, 'lord' for 'lords,' we would refer to Hen. V. IV. 4, where 'the French' is used in the singular; 'the French might have a good prey of us if he knew of it.'