Commentary notes (CN):

1. SMALL CAPS Indicate editions. Notes for each commentator are divided into three parts:

In the 1st two lines of a record, when the name of the source text (the siglum) is printed in SMALL CAPS, the comment comes from an EDITION; when it is in normal font, it is derived from a book, article, ms. record or other source. We occasionally use small caps for ms. sources and for works related to editions. See bibliographies for complete information (in process).

2. How comments are related to predecessors' comments. In the second line of a record, a label "without attribution" indicates that a prior writer made the same or a similar point; such similarities do not usually indicate plagiarism because many writers do not, as a practice, indicate the sources of their glosses. We provide the designation ("standard") to indicate a gloss in common use. We use ≈ for "equivalent to" and = for "exactly alike."

3. Original comment. When the second line is blank after the writer's siglum, we are signaling that we have not seen that writer's gloss prior to that date. We welcome correction on this point.

4. Words from the play under discussion (lemmata). In the third line or lines of a record, the lemmata after the TLN (Through Line Number] are from Q2. When the difference between Q2 and the authors' lemma(ta) is significant, we include the writer's lemma(ta). When the gloss is for a whole line or lines, only the line number(s) appear. Through Line Numbers are numbers straight through a play and include stage directions. Most modern editions still use the system of starting line numbers afresh for every scene and do not assign line numbers to stage directions.

5. Bibliographic information. In the third line of the record, where we record the gloss, we provide concise bibliographic information, expanded in the bibliographies, several of which are in process.

6. References to other lines or other works. For a writer's reference to a passage elsewhere in Ham. we provide, in brackets, Through Line Numbers (TLN) from the Norton F1 (used by permission); we call these xref, i.e., cross references. We call references to Shakespearean plays other than Ham. “parallels” (//) and indicate Riverside act, scene and line number as well as TLN. We call references to non-Shakespearean works “analogues.”

7. Further information: See the Introduction for explanations of other abbreviations. Click here for more information about browsing the entries and here for more information about the special symbols used in Hamletworks. Click the question mark icon above to remove this help message.

3165 enuious] See n. 2751

1755 John

John

3165 sliuer ] Johnson (1755, sliver): “n.s. [from the verb] A branch torn off. Sliver, in Scotland, still denotes a slice cut off; as, he took a large sliver of the beef. [cites Hamlet]”

mSTV1 Mss. notes by STEEVENS in v1773 (Folger Library)

mSTV1 : John

3165 sliuer ] Steevens (ms. notes, ed. 1773): “a branch torn off.”

1791- rann

rann

3165 sliuer ] Rann (ed. 1791-): “branch.”

1818 Todd

Todd =

John +

3165 sliuer ] Todd (1818, sliver): “† n.s. [from the verb] A branch torn off. Sliver, in Scotland, still denotes a slice cut off; as, he took a large sliver of the beef. and he might have added, that the same expression is no uncommon English one; especially in the north. But it is confirmed as an old English word by Chaucer. ‘He all whole, or of him slivere ‘ Chaucer Tro. and Cress. iii. 101’ [cites Hamlet].”

1822 Nares

Nares

3165 sliuer ] Nares (1822; 1906): “v. and s. I cannot think that these words require explaining, or exemplifying. Mr. Todd has shown that they are good old English, and they are certainly not altogether obsolete. The substantive occurs in Ham 4.7 (0000); the verb in Lr, 4.2.? (0000), and in Macbeth. “

1854 del2

del2

3165 enuious] Delius (ed. 1854) : “Vgl. Anm. 3, A.4, Sc.5” [“Compare note 3, 4.5 [page 116. 2751].”

This reference is to 2751 and Horatio’s line to the Queen, ‘Spurns enviously at straws.’ He notes for envy that it means “malice” or “spitefulness.”

1864-68 c&mc

c&mc ≈ standard

3165 sliuer] Clarke (ed. 1864, Glossary):

1864-68 c&mc

c&mc

3165 sliuer] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “‘A malignant slice or portion.’ See Note 34 of the present Act, and Note 8. Act iv., [Mac.].”

1870 rug1

rug1

3165 Clambring to hang] Moberly (ed. 1873): “See Desdemona’s song in [Oth. 4.3. (0000)], which gives the key to poor Ophelia’s action—’The fresh stream ran by her and murmured her moans, Sing willow, willow, willow.’”

1872 del4

del4 = del2

1872 cln1

cln1

3165 sliuer] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “a branch stripped from the tree. The verb ‘slive’ or ‘sliver,’ to strip off, occurs twice in the latter form in Shakespeare. See [Lr. 4.2.34 (0000)]: ‘She that herself will sliver and disbranch From her material sap, perforce must wither And come to deadly use.’ And [Mac. 4.1.28 (0000)]: ‘Slips of yew Sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse.’”

1873 rug2

rug2=rug1

1877 v1877

v1877

3165 sliuer] Furness (ed. 1877): “See [Mac. 4.1.28 (0000)].”

1877 neil

neil ≈ standard

3165 sliuer] Neil (ed. 1877, Notes): “a branch stripped lengthwise from a tree.”

1885 macd

macd

3165 Clambring to hang] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “The intention would seem, that she imagined herself decorating a monument to her father. Hence her Coronet weeds and the Poet’s weedy Trophies.”

macd ≈ cln1 w/o attribution +

3165 sliuer] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Slip and sliver must be of the same root.”

1889 Barnett

Barnett

3165 sliuer] Barnett (1889, p. 58): <p. 58>“a thin branch. ‘Slivered in the moon’s eclipse,’ where sliver means a branch broken off. A.S. slifan, to cleave. A parallel form slitan gives us slit.” healing herbs; so called because they are the elements of the medical compounds.” </p. 58>

1890 irv2

irv2 : standard

3165 sliuer] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “a branch stripped from the tree.”

1891 oxf1

oxf1 : standard

3165 sliuer] Craig (ed. 1891: Glossary): “sub. a branch torn off.”

1899 ard1

Ard1 ≈ cln1 w/o attribution

3165 sliuer] Dowden (ed. 1899): “a branch; properly a branch slivered (split) from a tree. So in[Mac. 4.1.28 (0000)]: ‘Slips of yew sliver’d in the moon’s eclipse.’”

1905 rltr

rltr : standard

3165 sliuer]

1906 nlsn

nlsn: standard

3165 enuious] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary)

3165 sliuer] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary)

1931 crg1

crg1 ≈ standard

3165 sliuer]

1934 cam3

cam3 : standard

3165 enuious] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary): “malicious, spiteful.”

3165 sliuer] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary)

1939 kit2

kit2 ≈ standard

3165 enuious]

3165 enuious] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary):

1947 cln2

cln2 ≈ standard

3165 sliuer]

1951 alex

alex ≈ standard

3165 sliuer] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)

1951 crg2

crg2=crg1

3165 sliuer]

1954 sis

sis ≈ standard

3165 sliuer] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):

1974 evns1

evns1

3165 enuious sliuer] Evans (ed. 1974): “malicious branch.”

1980 pen2

pen2 : macd ?

3165 Clambring to hang] Spencer (ed. 1980): “As one foresaken in love, Ophelia tries to hang her garland on a willow tree. Or perhaps she imagines herself to be decorating her father’s monument.”

pen2

3165 an . . . broke] Spencer (ed. 1980): “There is no word here of Ophelia’s death’s being suicide, though the strong suspicion of this is voiced in the next scene (V.I.I-25 and 223-34).”

pen2 ≈ standard

3165 enuious

pen2 ≈ standard

3165 sliuer]

1982 ard2

Ard2 ≈ standard

3165 enuious

1984 chal

chal : standard

3165 enuious

1985 cam4

cam4 ≈ standard

3165 enuious

cam4 ≈ Cln1 (def. & Lr. //)

3165 sliuer]

1987 oxf4

oxf4 ≈ evns1 w/o attribution

3165 enuious sliuer]

bev2: standard

3165 enuious sliuer]

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

3165 enuious sliuer]

1993 dent

dent ≈ oxf4

3165 enuious sliuer]

1998 OED

OED

3165 sliuer] sliver 1. a. A piece cut or split off; a long thin piece or slip; a splinter, shiver, slice. Also fig. b. Applied to parts of trees or plants. 1602 SHAKS. Ham. IV. vii. 174 An enuious sliuer broke, When downe the weedy Trophies, and herselfe, Fell in the weeping Brooke. [etc.]