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.

1819 Coleridge

Coleridge

19 Coleridge (1819, Lectures, 2:139): The gradual transition from the silence— and the the recent habit of listening in Francesco’s—I think, I hear them—and the more chearful call out, which a good actor would observe, in the stand, ho! Who is there—

-1823 Radcliffe

Radcliffe

19-51 Radcliffe (apud Verplanck, ed. 1844): “When Horatio enters, the challenge—the dignified answers, [quotes 20-21]—the question of Horatio to Bernardo touching the apparition—the unfolding of the reason why ‘Horatio has consented to watch with them the minutes of this night’ [paraphrase of 35-6]—the sitting down together, while Bernardo relates the particulars of what they had seen for two nights—and, above all, the few lines with which he begins his story [quotes 46]—and the distinguishing, by the situation of ‘yon same star,’ the very point of time when the spirit had appeared—the abruptness with which he breaks off, [quotes 50]—the instant appearance of the Ghost, as though ratifying the story for the very truth itself: all these are circumstances which the deepest sensibility only could have suggested; and which, if you read them a thousand times, still continue to affect you almost as much as at first. I thrill with delightful awe even while I recollect and mention them as instances of the exquisite art of the poet.”

1877 v1877

v1877 ≈ Coleridge

19 Coleridge (apud ed. 1877): “Coleridge (p. 148): Observe the gradual transition from the silence and the still recent habit of listening in Francisco’s ‘I think I hear them,’ to the more cheerful call out, which a good actor would observe, in the “Stand ho! Who is there?’”

1880 Tanger

Tanger

19 ho] Tanger (1880, p. 121) : F1’s variant “seems to be a simple accidental omission.”

1929 trav

trav

19 Travers (ed. 1929) notes that Francisco must now have moved far enough away from Bernardo so that he cannot see Marcellus and Horatio and they cannot see him.