Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: ComediesJohnson, Samuel
General
Notes to Shakespeare — Volume 01: Comedies
Johnson, Samuel
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- Criticism and interpretation
One or two symbols and abbreviations have been used for the sake of
economy. A new note or comment by Johnson, one added in 1773, is
indicated by (1773) at the end of the note. "W" is Warburton; "T" is
Theobald. The notation "W: winter" points to an easily recognizable
emendation by Warburton in a line quoted before the note in question.
Easily identifiable references to revisions of notes in the 1765
edition, or to revisions later made in the 1778 edition, are placed in
parentheses at the end of the notes. Scholars interested in these
revisions must check them for themselves. Act, scene, and line
references to Shakespeare are from Kittredge's edition of the works
(Boston, 1936). The numbers in parentheses after the reference in
Kittredge are to page and note number (the volume being given only once)
in the 1773 edition. The page reference is to the page upon which the
note, Johnson's or another editor's, starts; sometimes the notes extend
to three or more pages. The text of Shakespeare quoted is that of the
1773 edition; this is the text that Johnson's contemporaries saw, and it
would be a distortion to reprint Johnson's notes after a modern text.
The following list is of notes Johnson omitted in 1773; the references
are, of course, to the 1765 edition: I, 64, 0; 94,0 106 ; 113, 0; 133,0;
151,0 ; 153,0 ; 233, 8; 469, 1; II, 217, 2; 295, 8; 326, 8; 396, 8;
464, 6; III, 193, 3; IV, 149, 2; 201, 5; 347, 4; 372, 5; 398, 7; 404, 3;
V, 61, 5; 107, 9; VI, 17, 3; 80, 5; [166]; 415, 9; 440, 9; VII, 316, 3;
VIII, 121, 9; 198, 2; 272, 6; 281, 9; 362, 7. Fourteen notes in the 1765
edition, there inadvertently unattributed, are taken verbatim from other
editors and critics; five of these are correctly attributed in 1773 (see
1765, V, 182, 1; VI, 24, 3 and 177, 3; and Appendix, notes on V, 253 and
VII, 444). Four notes are entirely omitted: 1773, II, 50, 4; 138, 5; V,
297, 6; and VII, 317, 6. In four others (1773, I, 249, 5; II, 466, 7;
VI, 72, 4; and X, 417, 8) the part of the note that is not Johnson's is
set off by brackets and properly attributed. Finally, the note on II,
452 in the 1765 Appendix, taken partly from "Mr. Smith," appears in 1773
(I, 195, 5) as part of Steevens' comment. _Introduction on Comedies_.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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