When one or more of the Quartos differ so widely from the Folios that a complete collation is impossible, the letters which designate them are put between brackets, for the sake of keeping this difference before the mind of the reader. Thus, in the _Merry Wives of Windsor_, the two earliest Quartos differ widely from the Folios, while the third Quarto (1630) is printed from the first Folio. Hence, they are designated thus: I. 4. 20, _Cain_] F3 F4. _Kane_ (Q1 Q2). _Caine_ F1 Q3 F2. When no authority is given for the reading in the text, it is to be understood that it is derived from such of the Folios as are not subsequently mentioned. Thus, in the _Comedy of Errors_, II. 2. 203, _the eye_] _thy eye_ F2 F3 indicates that F1 and F4 agree in reading 'the eye.' In the same scene, line 191, the note '_or_] _and_ Theobald' means, that the four Folios, followed by Rowe and Pope, agree in reading 'or.' When the difference between the reading adopted and that given in one or more of the Folios is a mere difference of spelling, it has not been thought worth while to record the name of the first editor who modernized it: for instance, in the _Two Gentlemen of Verona_, II. 6. 35, the note is: _counsel_] _counsaile_ F1 F2. _councel_ F3. _council_ F4. We have given at full the name of the editor who first introduced a particular reading, without recording which of his successors adopted it. Thus, in _Measure for Measure_, III. 1. 138, 'grant' for 'shield' is read by Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, and others, but the first only is mentioned: '_shield_] F1. _shield:_ F2 F3 F4. _grant_ Pope.' The conjectures made by annotators or by editors, but not introduced by them into the text, are distinguished by the addition of 'conj.,' as 'Farmer conj.,' 'Johnson conj.' &c. 'Steevens (Farmer conj.)' indicates that the reading in question was first suggested by Farmer, and first introduced into the text by Steevens. If, however, the person who first made the conjecture, afterwards became an editor, and gave it in his own text, while, in the mean time, it had been adopted by some other editor, the 'conj.' is omitted. Thus, for example, 'Theobald (Warburton)' shows that Warburton was the first to propose such and such a change, that Theobald first incorporated it in the text, and that Warburton afterwards gave it in the text of his own edition. We have designated the readings derived from Mr Collier's corrected copy of the second folio thus: 'Collier MS.' not 'Collier MS. conj.,' as in this case we could consult brevity without danger of misleading any one. We have arranged the names both of Editors and of Commentators (as far as was possible) in order of time. It has frequently happened that several persons have hit on the same conjecture independently. In such cases we have assigned it to the earliest, determining the priority by the date of publication.