The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 4 of 9]Shakespeare, William
General
The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 4 of 9]
Shakespeare, William
English drama
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.'
NOTE XXIX.
V. 5. 7. In Capell's copy of his own edition 'clearly' is corrected to
'chearly,' in accordance with the conjecture in his notes. In the same
way he altered 'compulsion' to 'compunction' in V. 2. 44. 'Cleanly' is
equivalent to 'neatly,' and seems to be appropriate as antithetical to
'tottering' or 'tattering.'
NOTE XXX.
V. 7. 2. Mr Grant White says that the Folio reads 'pore' for 'pure,'
and this suggests his own reading, 'poor.' In all the copies known to
us the reading is 'pure.'
NOTE XXXI.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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