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.

1616 Bullokar

Bullokar

426 beauer] Bullokar (1616, apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Beauer. In armour it signifieth that part of the helmet which may bee lifted vp, to take breath the more freely.”

1744 han1

han1

426 beauer] Hanmer (ed. 1744, 6:Glossary): “that part iof the Helmet, which lets down over the face, with a grate of iron bars before the Eyes. Span. Bavera.”

1747 warb

warb : Bullokar without attribution +

426 beauer] Warburton (ed. 1747, 4: 174), for 1H4 4.1.104 [2335], says, “We should read, beaver up. It is an impropriety to say on; For the beaver is only the visiere of the Helmet, which, let down, covers the face. When the soldier was not upon action he wore it up, so that his face might be seen, (hence Vernon says he saw young Harry.) But when upon action, it was let down to cover and secure the face. Hence in [2H4 4.1.118 (1986)] it is said, ‘Their armed staves in charge, their beavers down.’”

1765 john1

john1 1H4 4.1.104 (2335): warb +

426 beauer] Johnson (ed. 1765, 4: 198 [1H4 4.1.104 (2335)]: “There is no need of all this note, for beaver may be a helmet; or the prince, trying his armour, might wear his beaver down.”

1773 v1773

1H4 = warb +

426 beauer vp] Johnson (ed. 1773, 5:329 n. 8), on beaver in 1H4 4.1.104 (2335), says, “There is no need of all this note; for beaver may be a helmet; or the Prince, trying his armour, might wear his beaver down.”

1790 mal

mal

426 beauer] Malone (ed. 1790): “Though beaver properly signified that part of the helmet which was let down, to enable the wearer to drink, Shakspeare always uses the word as denoting that part of the helmet which, when raised up, exposed the face of the wearer: and such was the popular signification of the word in his time. In Bullokar’s English Expositor, 8vo.1616, beaver is defined thus: ‘In armour it signifies that part of the helmet which may be lifted up, to take breath the more freely.’ Malone.”

Ed. note: According to Sherbo (Midwives, p. 145) Malone had the information from Lort; see note in v1793 1H4 (8:547.9), which quotes mal: Sh. “confounded [the two parts of the helmet, the bever and the visiere —see Lort]

1793 v1793

v1793 Ham. = mal; v1793 in 1H4, (8:547n.9) = mal from 1H4 recorded above +

426 beauer] Lort (apud v1793, 8:547n. 9) explains: “Bever and visiere were two different parts of the helmet. The former part let down to enable the wearer to drink, the latter was raised up to enable him to see.”

v1793: Douce

426 beauer] Douce (apud v1793; 8:547n. 9) says “The poet is certainly not guilty of the confusion laid to his charge with respect to the passage in [Ham.]; for the beaver was as often made to lift up as to let down.”

Ed. note: Douce felt obliged to correct the notes he had given Steevens but had not thought Steevens would use. v1793, in a note for beaver in 1H4 (8:546-7n8), quotes warb, as above, with immaterial variations.

1793- mSteevens

mSteevens as in v1803

426 wore his beaver up] Farmer (ms. note in Steevens, ed. 1793): “So in Laud’s Diary: ‘The Lord Broke shot in the left eye, & killed in the place at Lichfield—his bever up, & armed to the knee, so that a musket at that distance could have done him little harm.’ Farmer”

1803 v1803

v1803 = mal +

426 beauer] Farmer (apud ed. 1803) says, “So, in Laud’s Diary : ‘The Lord Broke shot in the left eye, and killed in the place at Lichfield—his bever up, and armed to the knee, so that a musket at that distance could have done him little harm.”

1807 Douce

Douce: warb; mal; Lort; Douce in v1793; +

426 beauer] Douce (1807, 1:438-43) on 1H4 4.1.104 (2335) says, “There are two other passages in Shakspeare’s plays that relate to the beaver, which will be best to insert here for the purpose of avoiding confusion, and to afford likewise the means of assembling together the various and discordant opinions of the commentators. There are [in addition to 1H4 4.1.104 (2335): “Ver. I saw young Harry with his beaver on,”]1. in [2H4 4.1.118 (1986)]. ‘their beavers down;” and 2. in Hamlet Act i, Sc.2, [426] ‘he wore his beaver up.’”

Douce transcribes and comments on notes on 1H4 and 2H4; on note by warb, Douce comments, “All this is correct, except that the beaver is certainly not the visor. </p. 438> <p. 439> ; john1. [Douce includes a sentence in the Johnson note that is not in john1: “‘Thus in [3H6 1.2.12 (17)]. “I cleft his beaver with a downright blow.”’” of which Douce says: “The latter part of the doctor’s note was unnecessary, and its inference apparently wrong.” Then mal on warb followed by Douce’s comment “But surely, Dr. Warburton having contended for the reading beaver up, could not have misconceived Vernon’s meaning as above.” Then “Dr. Lort contents himself with distinguishing and explaining the beaver and visor. He is however wrong in stating that the beaver was let down to enable the wearer to drink.

“Mr. Malone’s second note, relating to Hamlet, will be considered in the third passage.

“In the second passage [2H4], Mr. Malone remarks that the beaver ‘is confounded both here and in Hamlet with visor, or used for helmet in general,’ but that ‘Shakespeare is not answerable for any confusion on this subject, as he used beaver in the same sense in which it was used by all his </p. 439> <p. 440> contemporaries.’ The latter part of this note applies very justly to the first passage beaver on, where it is used generally for a helmet, but not to the present [2H4]; beavers down being perfectly accurate. It is submitted that the former part of the note, which relates to a supposed confusion both here and in Hamlet between beaver and visor, is not quite accurate, as may hereafter appear.

“In the [Ham.] passage Mr. Malone says: ‘Though beaver properly signified that part of the helmet which was let down, to enable the wearer to drink, Shakspeare always uses the word as denoting that part of the helmet which, when raised up, exposed the face of the wearer; and such was the popular signification of the word in his time. In Bullokar’s English Expositor, 8vo. 1616, beaver is defined thus: —‘In armour it signifies that part of the helmet which may be lifted up, to take breath the more freely.’ On this passage, Mr. Malone had also before remarked that Shakespeare confounded the beaver and visor; for in Hamlet Horatio says that he saw the old king’s face, because he wore his beaver up; and yet the learned commentator inadvertently quotes Bullokar’s definition, which is adverse to his own opinion. Another observation that suggests itself on Mr. Malone’s note on Hamlet is, that Shak </p. 440><p. 441> speare does not always use the beaver to denote that part of the helmet, which, when raised up, exposed the face of the wearer; because we have just seen that he sometimes, as other writers do, applies it to the whole of the helmet.

“And lastly, as to preceding notes; the present writer had, in defending Shakspeare’s accuracy, expressed himself in most faulty and inaccurate terms when he said [as recorded by v1793] that ‘the beaver was as often made to lift up as to let down.’ A great deal of confusion has arisen from the want of due attention to these words.

“There is a chance that the reader, unless he have paid more attention to what has already been stated than it perhaps deserves, may have got into a labyrinth; from which it shall be the endeavor of the rest of this note to extricate him.

“In the first place,—no want of accuracy whatever is imputable to Shakspeare.

“The beaver of a helmet is frequently used by writers, improperly enough, to express the helmet itself. It is in reality the lower part of it, adapted to the purpose of giving the wearer an opportunity of taking breath when oppressed with heat, or, without putting off the helmet, of taking his repast. As it was raised up for this purpose, </p.441> <p.442> it could of course be let down again; but it could not be let down on either of the afore-mentioned occasions. The visiere or visor was another moveable part in the front of a helmet, and placed above the beaver in order to protect the upper part of the face; and being perforated with many holes, afforded the wearer an opportunity of discerning objects: and thence its name. It was made also to lift up when the party either wanted more air, or was desirous of seeing more distinctly. It was perhaps never down but in actual combat; whilst the beaver would be thrown up or kept down at the wearer’s discretion, without much difference, except that in battle it would be closed, and at meal, or for additional coolness, thrown up. In short, the visor or beaver could only be let down after they had already been lifted up; and when a writer speaks of their being down, it generally meant that the helmet is closed.

“To exemplify the above remarks, correct representations of a real helmet and its parts are here given. See likewise Grosse’s Treatise on ancient armour, plates 10, 26, 30. </p.442> <p. 443> [5 figures showing helmets] </p. 443>”

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

1819 cald1

cald1= mal on 1H4 4.1.104

426 beauer] Caldecott (ed. 1820) quotes Malone: “ ‘In armour it signifies that part of the helmet which may be lifted up, to take breath the more freely.’ Bullokar’s Engl. Expositor, 8vo. 1616. See [1H4 4.1.104 (2335)] Vern. Malone.”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

426 beauer]

1826 sing1

sing1 = part of Douce

426 beauer] Singer (ed. 1826): “That part of the helmet which may be lifted up. Mr. Douce has given representations of the beaver, and other parts of a helmet, and fully explained them in his Illustrations, [1:443].

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

426 beauer]

1833 valpy

valpy: standard

426 beauer] Valpy (ed. 1833): “That part of the helmet which protects the lower part of the face, and may be lifted up.”

1843 col1

col1 addendum ≈ Farmer 1803; Douce

426 beauer] Collier (1843, 1: cclxxxix): “The Rev. Mr. Goodchild refers us to a passage in the diary of Archbishop Laud (quoted in Wood’s Athenae by Bliss, [2:433] by which it seems that he meant by ‘wearing the beaver up,’ that the face was covered by it. This is not quite clear, but the fact may be, that the beaver was sometimes made to rise from below, and sometimes to fall from above, for the protection of the face; and hence ‘he wore his beaver up’ might mean that his countenance was not exposed. Such. however, is clearly not the meaning of Shakespeare here.”

1843- mcol2

mcol2

426 O! yes, my lord; he wore his beaver up] Collier (ms. notes, ed. 1843): “See Goodchild’s note.”

1845 Hunter

Hunter

426 beauer] Hunter (1845, 2: 219): “Some say it ought to be ‘he wore his bever down;’ but Shakespeare has the authority of one who ought to know something concerning what belongs to knights and chivalry. ‘Which yielded, they their bevers up did rear And shewed themselves to her, such as indeed they were.— [F. Q. 4.6.25].”

1854 del2

del2 ≈ cald2

426 beauer] Delius (ed. 1854): “Was Sh. unter beaver verstand, erhellt aus der Erklärung eines gleichzetigen Glossars. In Bullokar’s English Expositor 1616. steht darüber: in armour it signifies that part of the helmet which may be lifted up, to take breath more freely.” [What Sh. meant by the word beaver is best clarified by the explanations in contemporary glossaries. In Bullokar’s English Expositor 1616. there is: in armour it signifies that part of the helmet which may be lifted up, to take breath more freely.]

1856 hud1

hud1 = sentence of sing1

426 beauer] Hudson (ed. 1856): “That part of the helmet which may be lifted up.”

1856 sing2

sing2 = sing1

426 beauer]

-1857 Planché

Planché

426 beauer] Planché (apud Dowden, ed. 1899): “In the 16th century the beaver became confounded with the visor, and could be pushed up entirely over the top of the helmet, and drawn down at pleasure.”

1861 wh1

wh1: standard

426 beauer] White (ed. 1861): “Strictly speaking, the beaver was that movable part of the helmet which was pressed down so that the wearer might drink. But it could be and frequently was united to the visor, and both were raised together; and so both came to be called the beaver. See the Note on ‘with his beaver on.’ [1 H4 4.1.104 (2335)], p. 409.”

1865 hal

hal = Malone, Farmer +

426 beauer] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “The annexed specimen of the ‘beaver up” is taken by Mr. Fairholt from Whitney’s Emblems, 1586.”

The picture shows a profile of a knight in helmet with the beaver up to expose the face.

1868 c&mc

c&mc: standard

426 beauer] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868): “The portion of the helmet that could be lifted up or lowered over the face. See [1H4 4.s.l., n. 25].”

1872 Wedgwood

Wedgwood = Diez

426 beauer] Wedgwood (1872): “The moveable part of a helmet, which, when up, covered the face, and when down occupied the place of a child’s bib or slobbering cloth. Fr. bavière, from baver, to slobber. It. bava, Sp. baba, Fr. bave, slobber. The OFr. bave expressed as well the flow of saliva as the babble of the child, whence baveux, bavardm Prov. bavec, talkative.—Diez,”

1872 cln1

cln1 standard, Fairholt + in magenta underlined

426 beauer] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “The front part of the helmet, supposed to be from ‘bavière,’ a bib. Another derivation is from ‘bevoir,’ because it was lifted up to enable the wearer to drink. Compare [2H4 4.1.118-19 (1986-7]: ‘Their beavers down, Their eyes of fire sparkling through bars of steel.’ And Spenser, [F. Q. 4.6.25}" ‘Which yielded, they their bevers up did reare, And shew’d themselves to her such as indeed they were.” Sometimes it designates the helmet itself as in [1H4 4.1.104 (2335)]. The beaver is figured in Fairholt’s ‘Costumes in England,’ p. 365.’

1872- mcln1

mcln1

426 beauer] Anon. (ms. notes in ed. 1872) struck out bevoir in Clark & Wright’s note and wrote in the margin: “Span. bever.”

1872 hud2

hud2 ≈ cln1

426 beauer] Hudson (ed. 1872): “The beaver was a movable part of the helmet, which could be drawn down over the face, or pushed up over the forehead.”

1873 rug2

rug2 ≈ cln1

426 beauer] Moberly (ed. 1873): “The face-cover of the helmet—‘bevoir,’ that which is moved for drinking.”

1877 v1877

v1877: Florio, Bullokar, Douce, knt1, Worcester, Richardson, Wedgwood, Hunter

426 beauer] Furness (ed. 1877): “Florio (A World of Wordes, 1598) gives Bauiéra, the chin piece of a caske or head-peece. Bullokar (English Expositor, 1616) defines: ‘Beauer. . . . freely. Douce (i, 429) shows that it is frequently used to denote the whole helmet, as in [3H6 1.1.12 (17)], and gives representations of the helmet and its parts; as also Knight at [2H4 4.1.118 (1986)]. Worcester cites Stephenson as deriving it from Ff. buvoir, because it enabled the wearer to drink. The definitions of Richardson and Wedgwood are not borne out by references to Sh. Hunter . . . .”

1880 meik

meik: standard +

426 beauer] Meikeljohn (ed. 1880): “from the O. Fr. bevere (from Lat. bibre), to drink. . . . (Cog.: Beverage: and the farm-labourers in East Anglia still shout bever! when they want to drink.)

1881 hud3

hud3 = hud2

426 beauer]

1885 mull

mull : standard

426 beauer] Mull (ed. 1885): “front part of the helmet.”

1899 ard1

ard1 = Planché (1808-1857)

426 Dowden (ed. 1899):

1938 parc

parc

426 beauer] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “visor.”

1939 kit2

kit2: standard

426 beauer] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "visor. Helmets differed much in the construction of the movable front or ’face-guard.’ If this consisted of two parts, the upper (the visor) was shoved up, and the lower (the beaver) down, when the helmet was open. If the face guard was single, it was called either visor or beaver indifferently, and was so adjusted as to be lowered in some helmets, raised in others, and in still others either raised or lowered at will."

1947 cln2

cln2: standard

426 beauer] Rylands (ed. 1947): "the visor of the helmet."

1957 pel1

pel1: standard

426 beauer] Farnham (ed. 1957): “visor or movable face-guard of the helmet.”

1958 fol1

fol1: standard

426 beauer] Wright & LaMar (ed. 1958): “visor of his armor.”

1970 pel2

pel2 = pel1

426 beauer] Farnham (ed. 1970): “visor or movable face-guard of the helmet”

1980 pen2

pen2: standard

426 beauer] Spencer (ed. 1980): “visor of a helmet (the movable upper part which could be drawn down over the face for protection but was normally kept in the lifted position except when fighting).”

1982 ard2

ard2 ≈ ard1 without attribution

426 beauer] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “Originally the beaver was drawn up from the chin and the vizor let down from the forehead. But in the 16th-century helmets beaver and visor had ceased to be distinct, and either word or was applied to the whole face-guard, which ’could be pushed up entirely over the top of the helmet’ (Planché, Cyclopaedia of Costume, 1:39), thus leaving the face free.’ ”

1985 cam4

cam4

426 beauer] Edwards (ed. 1985): "the movable visor."

1987 oxf4

oxf4: standard

426 beauer] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "visor, face-guard of a helmet."

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

426 beauer] Bevington (ed. 1988): “visor on the helmet.”

1992 fol2

fol2: standard

426 beauer] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “front piece of a helmet”

2000 Edelman

Edelman

426 beauer] Edelman (2000): “Part of the helmet, originally a movable guard for the mouth and chin, separate from a visor that protected the eyes, but by the sixteenth century the visor, pierced with sight-holes, was incorporated into a single assembly [. . . ]. The beaver was attached to the rest of the helmet by hinges near the cheeks [ . . .]. Changes in design over the years mean that in Shakespeare’s plays, a beaver can be ‘up,’ ‘down,’ or just ‘on.’ The beaver worn ‘up’ by the Ghost, allowing Horatio to see his face [426] is the visor-included variety, as is the beaver owned by the god of war [ . . . H5 4.2.44 (2216)]. ” He goes on to say that the beaver in 2H4 4.1.118 (1986) had to be down.

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: standard

426 beauer] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “visor (of a helmet)”