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Line 754 - Commentary Note (CN)

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.”

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Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman

For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.

754 And curde like {eager} <Aygre> droppings into milke,	1.5.69

1552 Huloet’s Abcedarium

Huloet [from hal]

754 eager] Huloet(1552, apud Halliwell, ed. 1865): “Eyger, acer.”

1559 Eliotes Dictionarie, 1559

Eliot ≈ Huloet [from hal]

754 eager] Eliot (1559): “Acelosus, eiger, sowre, tart.”

1611 Cotgrave

Cotgrave ≈ Eliot

754 eager] Cotgrave (1611): “Acre. com. Eager, sharp, tart, sowre, unripe; also, earnest, vehement.”

1723- mtby2

mtby2

754 dropping] Thirlby (1723-): “fsql dropping cave nb running”

1755 Johnson Dict.

Johnson

754 eager] Johnson (1755) defines “Sharp; sower; acid” (adj. 5) and cites Ham. 754.

-1761 Rochester

Rochester ≈ Johnson without attribution

754 eager droppings] Rochester (-1761, p. 204), on his emendation to Egar, dropping: “The Word Egar is a Substantive, and not an Adjective: It being a general English name for Acids of all Kinds, and used singly in many Counties, to signify Vinegar, Alegar, &c., tho’ they are Compounds. Had the original Words of Shakespear been Eager Droppings into Milk, alluding to the Way of making Sillibubs, the Thought would have been inverted; for the Milk does not curdle, but is curdled by the Acid it is milked upon. Neither can the rapid Motion of Milking be called Droppings, tho’ helped by Eager. For eager Droppings are like swift Crawlings, slow at the best.”

Ed. note: From a book presented as the work of John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester (d. d.1680, but considered by Rochester scholars to be a forgery; Browne reported the Ham. emendations in Aethenaeum in 1875. Copy at Folger; no publisher

1790 mal

mal

754 eager]

Ed. note: See n. 605.

1791- rann

Rann ≈ mal 605

754 eager] Rann (ed. 1791-) identifies as “acid.” The French etymology for Aygre suggests the word is related to vinegar. See n. 605.

1807 Douce

Douce: rann without attribution

754 eager] Douce (1807, 2:226): “Many readers may require to be told that eager means sour, from the French aigre. In the preceding scene [605] it is used in the sense of sharp, and is there properly so explained; but the present passage on that occasion seems misapplied.”

1819 cald1

cald1: rann without attribution

754 eager] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Acid. See ‘eager air,’ Sc. 4 [605].”

1820 Bicknell

Bicknell: standard

754 curde like eager] Bicknell (1820, p. 156n): “ ‘Eager’ is the modern corruption of the word ‘aigre,’ which signifies ‘sharp,’ ‘sour,’ and whose effect upon milk would necessarily be to curd and posset it.”

1826 sing1

sing1: Douce or cald1 without attribution +

754 eager] Singer (ed. 1726): “In Sc. iv [605] we have eager air for sharp biting air. ‘Eger (says Baret), sower, sharp, acidus, aigre.’ ”

1832 cald2

cald2 = sing1 (subst.)

754 eager] Caldecott (ed. 1832): “i.e. sharp, acid. Aigre, Fr.”

1833 valpy

valpy: standard

754 eager] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Sour, acid.”

cald?

1839 knt1

knt1: douce without attribution + in magenta underlined

754 eager] Knight (ed. [1839]): “Aigre. So the folio; the quartos, eager. The word is certainly used in a technical sense in the folio. It is spelt with a capital, Aygre; while eager in the common sense of sharp, in the passage, ‘It is a nipping and an eager air,’ has the familiar orthography.”

1843 col1

col1 : knt1 + in magenta underlined

754 eager] Collier (ed. 1843): “In the beginning of Sc. 4 we have had ‘eager’ used in a somewhat similar sense: ‘it is a nipping and an eager air.’ In this place in the folio it is spelt aygre, according to its French etymology. In his ‘Letter from Kenilworth,’ 1575, Laneham tells us that a fool, who was put out of countenance, became ‘very wayward, eager, and sour.’ ”

1844 Dyce

Dyce = knt1 +

754 eager] Dyce (1844, p. 211): [quotes knt1 in full] “This distinction between aygre and eager (like that between boson and boatswain, and that between stayers and stairs; see pp. 1, 56) exists only in Mr. Knight’s imagination: in the then uncertain state of orthography there was no end to the variations in the spelling of words. On the authority of the folio too, Mr. Knight gives in the fourth line of this passage [756], ‘bak’d,’ —a glaring misprint.”

1844 verp

verp: standard

754 eager] Verplanck (ed. 1844): “Eager, sharp, acid, sour; in its primary sense from aigre.”

1856 hud1

hud1 ≈ sing1 without attribution

754 eager] Hudson (ed. 1856): “In the preceding scene, note 1, [605] we have eager in the sense sharp biting. Baret explains, ‘Eger, sower, sharp, acidus, aigre.’ ‘Eager droppings,’ are drops of acid. H.”

1856 sing2

sing2 = sing1

754 eager]

1858 col3

col3 ≈ col1 minus the new material there (last sentence) and the quot. of 605 + in magenta underlined

754 eager] Collier (ed. 1858): “We have had ‘eager” in the second line of this scene: here it means sour, as in the former instance it meant sharp. In the Prompt. Parv. we have ‘Egyr, or egre,’ translated acer. In the folio it is here spelt aygre, according to the Fr. etymology.”

1860 stau

stau standard

754 eager] Staunton (ed. 1860): “Aigre, sour.”

1861 wh1

wh1: standard + in magenta underlined

754 eager] White (ed. 1861): “—‘Eager’ had the sense of ‘sharp,’ as we apply it to that which is very sour. Acidum et acre acetum.—Sowr and eager vinegar.’ Jan. Ling. 1650, Sig. A2.

1865 hal

hal = Huloet, Eliot, Cotgrave

754 eager]hal (ed. 1865): “sour. ’Eyger, acer, Huloet’s Abcedarium, 1552. ’Acetosus, eiger, sowre, tart,’ Eliotes Dictionarie, 1559. ’Acre, eager, sharpe, tart, sower, unripe,’ Cotgrave.”

1868 c&mc

c&mc

754 eager]

ck and complete

1870 rug1

rug1

754 eager] Moberly (ed. 1870): “Like the quick dropping of rennet into milk.”

Ed. note: No note at 605

1872 cln1

cln1 : standard gloss; Cotgrave + in magenta underlined

754 eager] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “Here used in the original sense of the French word. Cotgrave gives: ‘Aigre: Eager, sharpe, tart, biting, sower.’ So, metaphorically, [3H6 2.6.68 (1352)]: ‘Vex him with eager words.”

1872 hud2

hud2 = hud1 (minus Baret ref.)

754 eager]

1873 rug2

rug2

754 eager] Moberly (ed. 1873): “See [n. 605].”

1877 v1877

v1877: cln1, Earl of Rochester (via Browne Athenæum) with VN,

754 eager]

1881 hud3

hud3 = hud2 (minus xref)

754 eager]

1883 wh2

wh2 ≈ wh1

754 eager] White (ed. 1883): “sharp, sour.”

1885 mull

mull : standard

754 eager]

1938 parc

parc

754 eager] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “acid.”

1939 kit2

kit2: standard

754 eager] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "sour, acid."

1947 cln2

cln2: standard

754 eager] Rylands (ed. 1947): "cf. [605]."

1957 pel1

pel1: standard

754 eager] Farnham (ed. 1957): “sour.”

1957 pen1b

pen1b: standard

754 eager droppings] Harrison (ed. 1957): “sour, or acid, substance added to.”

1970 pel2

pel2 = pel1

754 eager] Farnham (ed. 1970): “sour”

1980 pen2

pen2: standard

754 eager] Spencer (ed. 1980): “sharp, sour (and so curdling the milk).”

1982 ard2

ard2:

754 eager] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “(continuing the posset comparison) acid, sour. This sense from the French is emphasized by the F spelling Aygre. Cf. 605 and Son. 118.2, ’With eager compounds we our palate urge.’ ”

1985 cam4

cam4

754 eager] Edwards (ed. 1985): "sour, acid. French aigre."

1987 oxf4

oxf4" standard gloss; Son. //

754 eager] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "sour, acid. Compare ‘With eager compounds we our palates urge’ (Sonnets 118.2)."

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

754 eager] Bevington (ed. 1988): “sour, acid.”

1992 fol2

fol2: standard

754 eager] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “acid”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: standard

754 eager droppings] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “sour or bitter drops”