of this century feem never to have looked behind them, and to have confidered their own era and their own phrafeology as the ftandard of perfection: hence from the time of Pope's edition, for above twenty years, to alter Shakspeare's text and to reftore it, were confidered as fynonymous terms. During the last thirty years our principal employment has been to restore, in the true fenfe of the word; to eject the arbitrary and capricious innovations made by our predeceffors from ignorance of the phrafeology and cuftoms of the age in which Shakspeare lived. As on the one hand our poet's text has been defcribed as more corrupt than it really is, so on the other, the labour required to inveftigate fugitive allufions, to explain and juftify obsolete phrafeology by parallel paffages from contemporary authors, and to form a genuine text by a faithful collation of the original copies, has not perhaps had that notice to which it is entitled; for undoubtedly it is a laborious and a difficult task: and the due execution of this it is, which can alone entitle an editor of Shakspeare to the favour of the publick, I have faid that the comparative value of the various ancient copies of Shakspeare's plays has never been precisely afcertained. To prove this, it will be neceffary to go into a long and minute difcuffion, for which, however, no apology is ne ceffary for though to explain and illuftrate the writings of our poet is a principal duty of his editor, to afcertain his genuine text, to fix what is to be explained, is his firft and immediate object: and till it be eftablished which of the ancient copies is en titled to preference, we have no criterion by which the text can be afcertained. Fifteen of Shakspeare's plays were printed in quarto antecedent to the first complete collection of his works, which was published by his fellowcomedians in 1623. These plays are. A Midfummer Night's Dream, Love's Labour's Loft, Romeo and Juliet, Hamlet, The Two parts of King Henry IV. King Richard II. King Richard III. The Merchant of Venice, King Henry V. Much Ado about Nothing, The Merry Wives of Windfor, Troilus and Creffida, King Lear, and Othello. The players, when they mention these copies, reprefent them all as mutilated and imperfect; but this was merely thrown out to give an additional value to their own edition, and is not ftrictly true. of any but two of the whole number; The Merry Wives of Windfor, and King Henry V.-With refpect ́ to the other thirteen copies, though undoubtedly they were all furreptitious, that is, ftolen from the playhouse, and printed without the confent of the author or the proprietors, they in general are preferable to the exhibition of the fame plays in the folio; for this plain reafon, because, inftead of printing these plays from a manufcript, the editors of the folio, to fave labour, or from fome other motive, printed the greater part of them from the very copies which they reprefented as maimed and imperfect, and frequently from a late, inftead of the earliest, edition; in fome inflances with additions and alterations of their own. Thus therefore the firft falio, as far as refpects the plays above enumerated, labours under the difadvantage of being at least a fecond, and in fome cafes a third, edition of thefe quartos. I do not however mean to say, that many valuable corrections of paffages undoubt edly corrupt in the quartos are not found in the folio copy; or that a fingle line of thefe plays fhould be printed by a careful editor without a minute examination, and collation of both copies; but thofe quartos were in general the bafis on which the folio editors built, and are entitled to our particular attention and examination as first editions. It is well known to thofe who are converfant with the business of the prefs, that, (unless when the author corrects and revifes his own works,) as editions of books are multiplied, their errors are multiplied alfo; and that confequently every fuch edition is more or lefs correct, as it approaches nearer to or is more diftant from the first. A few inftances of the gradual progrefs of corruption will fully evince the truth of this affertion. In the original copy of King Richard II. 4to. 1597, A& II. fc. ii. are these lines: You promis'd, when you parted with the king, In a fubfequent quarto, printed in 1608, instead of life-harming we find HALF-harming; which being perceived by the editor of the folio to be nonfenfe, he fubftituted, inftead of it, SELF-har ming heavinefs. In the original copy of King Henry IV. P. I. printed in 1598, Act IV. fc. iv. we find And what with Owen Glendower's abfence thence, (Who with them was a rated finéw too,)" &c. In the fourth quarto printed in 1608, the article being omitted by the negligence of the compositor, and the line printed thus, Who with them was rated finew too," the editor of the next quarto, (which was copied by the folio,) inftead of examining the first edition, amended the error (leaving the metre ftill imperfect) by reading Who with them was rated firmly too. So, in the fame play, Act I. fc. iii. inftead of the reading of the earliest copy Why what a candy deal of courtesy caudy being printed in the first folio inftead of candy, by the accidental inverfion of the lettern, the editor of the fecond folio corrected the error by fubftituting gawdy. So, in the fame play, Act III. fc. i. inftead of the reading of the earliest impression, The frame and huge foundation of the earth.” in the fecond and the fubfequent quartos, the line by the negligence of the compofitor was exhibited without the word huge: The frame and foundation of the earth-" and the editor of the folio, finding the metre imperfect, fupplied it by reading, The frame and the foundation of the earth." Another line in A&t V. fc. ult. is thus exhibited in the quarto, 1598: But that the earthy and cold hand of death-"” Earth being printed inftead of earthy, in the next and the subsequent quarto copies, the editor of the folio amended the line thus: But that the earth and the cold hand of death-." Again, in the preceding fcene, we find in the first copy, "I was not born a yielder, thou proud Scot." inftead of which in the fifth quarto, 1613, we have "I was not born to yield, thou proud Scot." This being the copy that was used by the editor of the folio, instead of examining the moft ancient impreffion, he corrected the error according to his own fancy, and probably while the work was paffing through the prefs, by reading- "I was not born to yield, thou haughty Scot." In Romeo and Juliet, Juliet fays to her nurse, "In faith, I am forry that thou art not well." and this line in the first folio being corruptly exhibited . In faith, I am forry that thou are fo well." the editor of the second folio, to obtain some sense, printed In faith, I am forry that thou art so ill.” |