HW Home	Previous CN	View CN	View TNM	View TNI	Next CN

Line 672 - 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. 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.

Notes for lines 0-1017 ed. Bernice W. Kliman

For explanation of sigla, such as jen, see the editions bib.

672 By {heauen} <Heau’n,> Ile make a ghost of him that lets me,	1.4.85

1765 john1 R3

john1

672 lets] Johnson (ed. 1765, 5:236 n. 9), on R3 1.2.37 (232), “I’ll make a Coarse of him that disobeys”: “So in Hamlet, I’ll make a ghost of him that holds me.”

Ed. note: Johnson misremembers Ham.

1773 v1773

v1773

672 lets] Steevens (ed. 1773): “To let among the old authors signifies to prevent, to hinder. Steevens.”

1773 gent

gent = v1773 without attribution

672 lets] Gentleman (ed. 1773): “for hinders.”

1780 mals1

mals1

672 lets] Malone (1780, 1:351), says “To follow Steevens’s note.]] So, in No Wit like a Woman’s, a comedy by Middleton, 1657: ‘That lets her not be your daughter now.’”

mals1

672 lets] Malone (1780, 1:492 n. 3), on Luc. 328 “Who with a ling’ring stay his course doth let,” “To let, in ancient language, is to obstruct, to retard. So, in [672, and he quotes]. .Malone.”

mals1

672 lets] Malone (1780, 2: 26 n. 9) on Per. 1.2.61-2: “—and heaven forbid That Kings should let their ears hear their faults hid.” “To let is here, to hinder. So, in [672, and quotes]. Again, in Tancred and Gismund, 1592: ‘Nor base suspect of aught to let his suit. Malone.”

1785 v1785

v1785

672 that lets me] Reed (ed. 1785): see 1:188

1787 ann

ann: standard without attribution

672 that lets me] Anon. (Annotations 1787, 6: 36): “That hinders, or stops me. ***”

In a couple of instances ANN has the signature 3 asterisks. In this case, since others had the same def. I am not sure why the anon. signature. Or Maybe it means the editor? But a few notes are signed “Editor.”

Since Gentleman has this same def., it is perhaps he? But still, why the anonymity?

1790 mal

mal = v1778; = mals1 1:351)

672 lets] Malone (ed. 1790): “To let among out old authors signifies to prevent, to hinder. Steevens.

“So in No Wit like a Woman’s, a comedy by Middleton, 1657: ‘That lets her not be your daughter now.’ Malone.”

1790- mTooke

mTooke:

672 lets] Tooke (ms. notes in ed. 1790): “and new.”

1791- rann

Rann ≈ mals1; john1 on R3 without attribution +

672 lets me] Rann (ed. 1791-): “obstructs me. — ‘I’ll make a corse,’ &c. [R3 1.2.37 (232)] Glo. ‘What lets’ [TGV 3.1. 113(1182)]. Val.”

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1773, mals1, +

672 lets] Steevens (ed. 1793): “It is still a word current in the law, and to be found in almost all leases.”

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

672 lets]

1805 Seymour

Seymour: standard +

672 lets] Seymour (1805, 2:158): “To let, undoubtedly, signifies ‘to hinder,’ but I cannot help considering this expression as the offspring of that preposterous disposition which often prevails in these works, to ‘palter with us in a double sense’.”

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

672 lets]

1819 cald1

cald1: standard

672 lets] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “Obstructs.”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1803 + john R3 without attribution

672 lets] Blakeway (apud ed. 1821) notes the parallel: “‘Villains set down the corse, or by St. Paul, I’ll make a corse of him that disobeys.’ [R3 1.2.37 (232)].”

1826 sing1

sing1: 1st john R3 without attribution, then ≈ Steevens’s v1773 def. without attribution , v1793 on leases, without attribution.

672 lets] Singer (ed. 1826): “To let, in old language is to hinder, to stay, to obstruct; and still a current term in leases and other legal instruments.”

nothing new

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

672 lets]

1833 valpy

valpy: standard

672 lets] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Hinders.”

1839 knt1

knt1 = cald2

672 lets]

1843 col1

col1 standard

672 that lets me] Collier (ed. 1843): “i.e. that hinders or prevents me. See [6:409]. The word hardly requires a note.”

1844 verp

verp: standard

672 Verplanck (ed. 1844): “Of him that hinders or obstructs me; a common sense of the word in the reign of Elizabeth, though now obsolete.”

1854 del2

del2 standard

672 lets] Delius (ed. 1854): “Sh. [gebraucht] to let in der in him geläufigen Beduetung = ‘hindern,’ eigentlich ‘unterlassen machen.’” [Sh. uses to let in the familiar meaning ‘to hinder,’ really ‘to cause to be omitted.’]

1856 hud1

hud1 = sing1 minus (struck out) without attribution; col1 in magenta without attribution

672 lets] Hudson (ed. 1856): “To let, in old language is to hinder, to stay, to obstruct; and still a current term in leases and other legal instruments or prevent.”

1856b sing2

sing2 = sing1

672 lets]

1858 col3

col3 = col1 (subst.)

672 that lets me]

1860 stau

stau standard

672 lets] Staunton (ed. 1860): “That hinders, or obstructs me.”

1861 wh1

wh1: standard

672 lets] White (ed. 1861): “that stays or hinders me.”

1868 c&mc

c&mc: standard

672 lets] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868): “‘Hinders,’ ‘prevents.’ See [TGV 3.1. 113 (1182), n. 11].”

1870 rug1

rug1: Mätzner; Wedgwood

672 lets] Moberly (ed. 1870): “According to Mätzner and others, ‘let’ in the sense of hindering is derived from the A. S. ‘letjan,’ ‘to retard;’ and differs from the ordinary ‘let,’ which is from læten (lassen). Mr. Wedgwood considers the first to be simply the causative of the second; as to hinder a person means to make him leave a thing undone.”

1872 cln1

cln1:standard gloss + analogues

672 lets me] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “hinders me. Compare Romans 1.13, and 2 Thessalonians 2.7.”

1872 hud2

hud2 = hud1

672 lets]

1873 rug2

rug2 = rug1 minus Wedgwood

672 lets]

1877 v1877

v1877= Steevens v1793; cln1

672 lets]

1877 col4

col4: standard

672 lets]

1881 hud3

hud3 ≈ hud2

672 lets]

1883 wh2

wh2: standard

672 lets]

1885 mull

mull : standard

672 lets]

1938 parc

parc

672 lets] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “hinders.”

1939 kit2

kit2: standard

672 lets] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "hinders."

1947 cln2

cln2: standard

672 lets] Rylands (ed. 1947): "hinders."

1957 pel1

pel1: standard

672 lets] Farnham (ed. 1957): “hinders.”

1970 pel2

pel2 = pel1

672 lets] Farnham (ed. 1970): “hinders”

1980 pen2

pen2: standard

672 lets] Spencer (ed. 1980): “hinders.”

1982 ard2

ard2: standard

672 lets] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “hinders.”

1985 cam4

cam4

672 lets] Edwards (ed. 1985): "hinders."

1987 oxf4

oxf4: standard

672 lets] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "hinders, tries to stop."

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

672 lets] Bevington (ed. 1988): “hinder.”

1992 fol2

fol2: standard

672 lets me] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “holds me back”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2

672 make a ghost] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “Hamlet speaks as if he or someone else has just used the word ghost: see R3 1.2.36-7 : ’Villains! set down the corse or by Saint Paul / I’ll make a corse of him that disobeys!’”

ard3q2: standard

672 lets] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “prevents. This otherwise obsolete sense survives in the formulaic phrase ’let or hindrance’.”