Line 489 - 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.”
7. Further information: See the Introduction for explanations of other abbreviations.
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Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman
489 As he in his {particuler act and place} <peculiar Sect and force>
1723- mtby2
mtby2
489 act and place] Thirlby (1723-): “pro act, state”
1733- mtby3
mtby3 = mtby2 minus
489 act and place] Thirlby (1733-): “M: fsql state Hoc ibi”
Ed. note: “M” and “Hoc ibi” enclose a note he had in 1723- (pope1]
1790- Wesley
Wesley
489-90 As . . . deede] Wesley (ms. notes 1790-, p. 44): “That is, ‘may or can realize his words; prove the truth of them by actions”
1819 cald1
cald1 = mal (whose note is recorded in 490) +
489-90 As . . . deede] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “As he in that peculiar rank and class that he fills in the state, and the power and means thereto annexed, may enable him to give his professions effect.”
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1
489-90 As . . . deede]
1843 col1
col1
489 act and place] Collier (ed. 1843): “So the quartos, 1604, &c. The folio reads, ‘peculiar sect and force;’ but there is little doubt that it is a misreading. Sect and force may be strained into a meaning, but ‘act and place’ require no such effort.”
1854 del2
del2
489 act and place] Delius (ed. 1854): “Für das sect and force, der Fol. haben die Herausgeber meistens mit dem Qs act and place, wobei act dem force, sect dem place entspricht.”[For the folio’s sect and force, most of the editors have the 4tos’ act and place, whereby act corresponds with force, sect with place. ]
1857 dyce1
dyce1 ≈ col1
489 act and place] Dyce (ed. 1857): “Here again I am driven to the quartos, 1604, &c.—The folio has ‘As he in his peculiar Sect and force,’ ‘but,’ as Mr. Collier observes, ‘there is little doubt it is a misreading.”
1858 col3
col3 = col1 + in magenta underlined and minus enclosed in strike throughs
489 act and place] Collier (ed. 1858): “So the 4tos, 1604, &c. The folio, 1623, reads, ‘peculiar sect and force:’ but there is little doubt that it is a misreading. Sect and force may be strained into a meaning, but ‘act and place’ require no such effort. sect is made ‘act,’ and force ‘place’ in the corr. fo. 1632.”
Ed. note: Collier refers to his Perkins folio aka mcol1.
1861 wh1
wh1
489 particuler act and place] White (ed. 1861) remarks on the choice of either Q2 or F1: “But what tolerable sense has either, in connection with the context? The folio manifestly corrects two errors, but makes one—‘force’ for ‘place.’ ‘Sect’ is class, rank, or, in the slang of society, set. So in [Lr. 5.3.18 (3145)], ‘packs and sects of great ones’”
1865 hal
hal at 490 = cald2
489-90 As . . . deede]
1866 dyce2
dyce2 ≈ dyce1 w/ variant in magenta underlined, omissions struck through
489 act and place] Dyce (ed. 1866): “Here again I am driven we must have recourse to the quartos, 1604, &c.—The folio has ‘As he in his peculiar Sect and force,’ ‘but,’ as Mr. Collier observes, ‘there is little doubt it is a misreading.”
489 particular . . .
place]
Schmidt (1875,
apud Rolfe, ed. 1878): “The peculiar line of conduct prescribed to him by his rank.”
1877 v1877
v1877: cald, col1 (for info struck through in col3); col3 (for sentence re Perkins), wh1
489 act and place]
1877 dyce3
dyce3 = dyce2
489 act and place]
1880 Tanger
Tanger
489 act and place] Tanger (1880, p. 123): F1 “probably owing to the negligence, inattention, or criticism of the compositor.”
1880 meik
meik
489 As] Meikeljohn (ed. 1880): “= in so far as. Cf. [1H4 3.3.145 (2152)], where Falstaff says to the Prince: ‘As thou art but man, I dare; but, as thou art prince, I fear thee as I fear the roaring of the lion’s whelp.’”
1881 hud3
hud3 ≈ meik without attribution
489-90 As . . . deede] Hudson (ed. 1881): “So far only as he, in his public and official character, shall make his promise good.”
1883 wh2
wh2 ≈ cald without attribution
489 particular act] White (ed. 1883): “peculiar sect = rank in life; so used by S. elsewhere. . . . ”
1884 Gould
Gould:
489 act] Gould (1884, p. 38) says “sect” should probably be “act” without mentioning that that is the Q2 word.
1885 macd
macd ≈ del2 without attribution on relation between the two sets as chiasmic + in magenta underlined
489 act and place] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “This change from the Quarto seems to me to bear the mark of Shakspere’s hand. The meaning is the same, but the words are more individual and choice: the sect , the head in relation to the body, is more pregnant than place; and force, that is power, is a fuller word than act or even action, for which it plainly appears to stand.”
1888 Mull
Mull
489 Mull (1888, p.5): “ i.e. ‘As he, by his precise undertaking according to his elevated position.’ Compare [Mac. 4.1.98 (1642)] ‘our high-placed Macbeth.”
1899 ard1
ard1: eds. choices; ≈ wh1 without attribution
489 particular act and place]
1903 p&c
p&c
489 particular . . . place] Porter & Clarke (ed. 1903, rpt. 1905, p. xxvii) interpret the F1 phrase “peculiar Sect and Force” as meaning Hamlet’s faction, which is now subordinate to Claudius.
1907 bull
bull: standard rev of variants, ref. to n. 3 in a cam ed.
484 Bullen (ed. 1907, 10: 432)
1934 Wilson
Wilson MSH
489 particular act and place] Wilson (1934, p. 48), who lists this as among the F1 paraphrases, says that the paraphraser misread act as sect, which he took to mean sex and therefore he emended place to force to make it fit.
1939 kit2
kit2: standard
489 in . . . place] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "acting as he must in his special circumstances and under the restrictions of his rank."
1980 pen2
pen2: F1
489 he . . . place] Spencer (ed. 1980): “one who is in his personal position (as a prince). But the text may be wrong, for F reads the even more difficult phrase ’he in his peculiar Sect and force’.”
1982 ard2
ard2 = kit2
489 in his particular act and place] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “in the action and position which belong to him as one differentiated from other men; ’acting as he must in his special circumstances and under the restrictions of his rank’ (Kittredge).”
1985 cam4
cam4; J. Q. Adams
489 his particuler act and place] his peculiar sect and force Edwards (ed. 1985): "the special circumstances of his class and power. So F. Q2 reads ’particular act and place’, and it is hard to see how this eroded phrase has won almost universal acceptance. (J. Q. Adams, 1929, is a notable exception in following F). While ’act’ can mean little in this context, ’sect’ has the well established meaning of a class or kind of person, as in [MM 2.2.5 (0000)]: ’All sects, all ages, smack of this vice.’ ’force’ refers to the limited freedom of Hamlet’s social class as Laertes has just described it. Q2 gives a misreading of such unusual length that one may ascribe it to the decreasing legibility of Shakespeare’s MS. between the transcription which lies behind F and the printing of Q2 in 1604. (See Introduction, pp. 27-9.)"
1987 oxf4
oxf4
489 in . . . place] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "on account of his very special position of power. For sect, meaning ‘rank’ or ‘class’, see [MM 2.2.5 (738)]."
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
489 in . . . place] Bevington (ed. 1988): “in his particular restricted circumstances.”
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: standard
489 his . . . place] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “i.e. his specific role and situation”
489