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.

1562 Heywood

Heywood

524 giue thy thoughts no tongue] Heywood (1562, 1: 11:41): “I see much, but I say little. . . . ”

c.1639 mWright

mWright ≈ Ham.

524-34 Wright (1639, fo. 85r): “Giue thy thoughts no tongue, nor any vnpportioned thought his act. take each mans censure, but reserue thy iudgement.”

1783 mals2

mals2

524 character] Malone (1783, pp. 55-6): “i.e. engrave, imprint. The same phrase is used again by our author in his 122d Sonnet: ‘—thy tables are within my brain Full character’d in lasting memory.’ Again, in [TGV 2.7.1 (977)]: ‘—I do conjure thee, Who are the table wherein all my thoughts Are visibly charácter’d and engrav’d.’”

1785 v1785

v1785 = mals2

524 character]

1787 ann

ann = v1785

524 character]

1790 mal

mal = v1785

524 character]

1791- rann

rann = mal without attribution

524 character

rann

525 vnproportion’d] Rann (ed. 1791-): “irregular, disorderly.”

1793 v1793

v1793 = mal

524 character]

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

524 character]

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

524 character]

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

524 character]

1819 cald1

cald1 = v1813 without attribution + character and act/scene, in magenta)

524 character] Caldecott (ed. 1819) “Imprint [ref to Son. 122 and TGV 2.7.1 (977)] Julia II.7.”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

524 character]

1826 sing1

sing1 = v1821 [Son. 122, TGV] without attribution + in magenta underlined

524 character] Singer (ed. 1826): “mark, imprint, strongly infix”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

524 character]

1833 valpy

valpy ≈ cald2

524 character] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Inscribe.”

1843 col1

col1 ≈ cald2 without attribution + in magenta underlined

524 character] Collier (ed. 1843): “i.e. Look thou imprint, as in characters.”

1843- mLewes

mLewes

524 character] Lewes (ms. notes in Knight, ed. 1843): “Greek source of the word.”

Ed. note: The Greek word means an instrument for engraving.

1844 verp

verp: standard (close to col1 without attribution)

524 character] Verplanck (ed. 1844): “See that you imprint, as in character.”

verp probably mistakenly has character instead of col1 characters.

1854 del2

del2 standard

524 character] Delius (ed. 1854): “to character = eingraben, einschreiben hat bei Sh. den Accent bald auf der ersten, bald auf der zweiten Sylbe.”[to character means to engrave; character has in Sh. the accent sometimes on the first syllable, sometimes on the second.]

1856 hud1

hud1 standard

524 character] Hudson (ed. 1856): “That is, mark, imprint, strongly infix.”

1856b sing2

sing2 = sing1

524 character]

1858 col3

col3 = col1 + in magenta underlined

524 character] Collier (ed. 1858): “i.e. Look thou write or imprint, as in characters.”

1868 c&mc

c&mc: standard + in magenta underlined

524 Looke thou character] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868): “‘Be attentive to mark, imprint, or write down.’”

1870 rug1

rug1: Coleridge +

524-5 giue . . . act] Moberly (ed. 1870): “Do not disclose your immature thoughts; and act upon them only when fully reasoned out. As Coleridge remarks, this implies the further precept that every well-proportioned thought should be acted upon.”

1872 cln1

cln1 : mal on // TGV without attribution; cln1: del2 without attribution on accent + // R3 in magenta underlined

524 character] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “used wiuth the accent either on the first or second syllable. The word as a substantive is found with the latter accent in [R3 3. 1. 81 (1660)]: ‘I say without characters fame lives long.’ And the verb in [TGV 2.7.1 (977)]: [quotes as in mal].”

1872 hud2

hud2 : standard

524 character] Hudson (ed. 1872): “To character is to engrave or imprint.”

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1

524-5 giue . . . act]

1874 Corson

Corson: F1, cam1

524 Looke] Corson (1874, p. 12) prefers F1

1877 v1887

v1877 = cln1 (minus accent), cald (accent in Son. 122) + //

524 character] Furness (ed. 1877): “ Luc. 807.”

1880 Tanger

Tanger

524 Looke Tanger (1880, p. 124) ascribes the variant in F1 as “probably due to the critical revision which the text received at the hands of H.C. [Heminge & Condell], when it was being woven together from the parts of the actors.”

1880 meik

meik: standard + Son. 59.8 //

524 character] Meikeljohn (ed. 1880): “(with the accent on the second syllable, inscribe, engrave. Cf. [Son. 59.8 and quotes] and [R3 3.1.81 (1660) and quotes].”

meik

524 thoughts no tongue] Meikeljohn (ed. 1880): “As Sir H. Wotton advised Milton to travel in Italy: I pensieri stretti ed il viso sciolto’—‘Thoughts close, countenance loose’ (open).”

1881 hud3

hud3 = hud2

524 character]

1883 wh2

wh2

524 character] White (ed. 1883): “write down.”

1885 macd

macd; standard

524 character] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Engrave.”

1899 ard1

ard1: standard on accent on 2nd syll.

524 character]

1947 cln2

cln2

524 character] Rylands (ed. 1947): "inscribe, engrave (Greek [quotes and translates], a stamp on a seal or coin)."

1938 parc

parc

524 character] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “inscribe.”

1939 kit2

kit2: standard; xref

524 character] Kittredge (ed. 1939) accents the second syllable: "engrave, inscribe. Cf. [783-8]."

1950 Tilley

Tilley

524 giue . . . tongue] Tilley (1950, T 219): “First Think and then speak.

Ed. note: Tilley lists none before Ham. but similar proverbs under other headings precede Ham.

1957 pel1

pel1: standard

524 character] Farnham (ed. 1957): “inscribe.”

1970 pel2

pel2 = pel1

524 character] Farnham (ed. 1970): “inscribe”

1982 ard2

ard2:

524 character] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “engrave. The accent could fall either on the first or (as here) the last syllable. Cf. Son. 122:2, ’Full character’d with lasting memory.’ ”

1985 cam4

cam4

524 character] Edwards (ed. 1985): "inscribe. Accent on second syllable."

1987 oxf4

oxf4: standard

524 character] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "engrave, inscribe (accented on the second syllable)."

oxf4: Tilley

524 giue . . . tongue] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "Compare the proverbial saying, ‘Wise men have their tongue in their heart, fools their heart in their tongue’ (Tilley M602)."

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

524 Looke] Bevington (ed. 1988): “be sure that.”

bev2: standard

524 character] Bevington (ed. 1988): “inscribe.”

1992 fol2

fol2: standard

524 Looke thou character] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “see that you inscribe”

1995 Kliman

Kliman

524 Looke] Kliman (1995) echoes his look to it to Ophelia in 601 (c. 75 sec later); on the other hand, for just that reason a director might want to use See, to differentiate between the way he talks to Laertes and the way he talks to Ophelia.

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: xref

524 character] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “(stressed on second syllable) inscribe, write (see Hamlet’s character at [3062])”