TNM (Material Textual Notes) faq
For expansion of sigla (codes for editions), refer to bibliography of editions; e.g. v1877 = the Furness variorum ed.
Every line has a TNM file because all editions either follow Q2 substantively (in which case we list it at the top of files in an “= Q2” string) or they vary from it (in which case they are listed below the = Q2 string).
Q2 lemmata are all followed by a bracket; occasionally, we collate an additional word from F1 or elsewhere; brackets do not follow such additions. See, e.g., TNM 443.
From 1793 on, most editors have followed Steevens in indenting to indicate the completion of a verse line. We note such maneuvers only when editors change Q2's lineation to create the verse line; it then appears in a TNM doc., as do all other changes of whole lines, either by splitting, combining or transposing them. For example, TNM 238-9 shows that Q2 and most other editions print this as one line, while the folios print it as two.
Following New Variorum guidelines,* we use Through-Line-Numbers as in the Norton First Folio, by permission.
* hamletworks.org is not vetted by the MLA or the general editors of the New Variorum Shakespeare; it contains the raw material from which the editors of hamletworks.org have been shaping their submissions to the general editors for publication by MLA in the New Variorum Hamlet. We base most of our style choices on directions in the New Variorum Handbook, available on the MLA website. See Introductory explanations.
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