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.

1755 Johnson Dict.

Johnson

605 eager] Johnson (1755) cites 605 for his definition adj.6: “Keen; severe, biting.”

-1761 Rochester?

Rochester ?

605 eager] Rochester? (-1761, p. 204): “The word Egar is a Substantive, and not an Adjective: It being a general English Name for Acids of all Kinds, and used singly in many Counties, to signify Vinegar, Alegar, &c. tho’ they are Compounds.”

1765 john1

john1 3 H6

605 eager] Johnson (1765, 5: 163 n): For 3H6 (2.6.68 [1352]) “vex him with eager words,” says “eager = “Sour words, words of asperity.”

1790 mal

mal ≈ Johnson without attribution + Fr.

605 eager] Malone (ed. 1790): “That is, a sharp air, aigre, Fr. So, in a subsequent scene: ‘And curd, like eager dropping into milk.’”

1793 v1793

v1793 = mal

605 eager]

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

605 eager]

1807 Douce

Douce ≈ mal without attribution

605 eager] Douce (1807, 2:226): “Many readers may require to be told that eager [in 754] means sour, from the French aigre. In the preceding scene [605] it is used in the sense of sharp, and is there properly so explained; but the quotation of the present passage on that occasion seems misapplied.”

an aside on this TLN in his note for 754

1813 v1813

v1813 = 1803

605 eager]

1819 cald1

cald1 ≈ mal

605 eager] Malone (apud Caldecott): “i.e. sharp, aigre, Fr. ‘And curd, like eager dropping into milk.’ Sc. 5 [754]. Malone.”

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

605 eager]

1826 sing1

sing1 ≈ mal without attribution

605 eager] Singer (ed. 1726): “Eager was used in the sense of the French aigre, sharp.”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1

605 eager]

1833 valpy

valpy ≈ v1821

605 eager] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Keen.”

1856 hud1

hud1 = sing1 without attribution

605 eager]

The rest of the hud1 note (CLR) I put into 604 because it is about the whole scene before the ghost arrives.

1856 sing2

sing2 = sing1

605 eager]

1865 hal

hal ≈ mal without attribution

605 eager] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “Eager, sharp, as applied to air. The same word, in a different but cognate sense, occurs in a subsequent scene [754]”

1868 c&mc

c&mc≈ mal without attribution; = valpy without attribution

605 eager] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868): “Here employed in its sense as derived from the French, aigre, ‘sharp,’ ‘keen.’”

1872 Wedgwood

Wedgwood: standard

605 eager] Wedgwood(1872): “Eager. 1. Fr. aigre, eager, sharp, biting; Lat., acer, sharp, severe, vehement, ardent. See Acid.”

1872 cln1

cln1 : standard gloss & xref + analogue

605 eager] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “See . . . Chapman’s Homer, Iliad, xi.231.”

1872 hud2

hud2 = hud1

605 eager]

1873 rug2

rug2 ≈ hal without attribution + Cotgrave

605 eager] Moberly (ed. 1873): “A sharp air. Cotgrave’s Dictionary translates the French ‘aigre’ by ‘eager, sharpe, sowre.” So we have presently [754] ‘eager droppings into milk.’”

1877 v1887

v1877: Wedgwood (which in turn = standard + Latin derivation)

605 Wedgwood(apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Lat., acer, sharp, severe, vehement, ardent.”

1880 Tanger

Tanger

605 nipping] Tanger (1880, p. 125): Q2 variant “probably owing to the negligence, inattention, or criticism of the compositor.”

1881 hud3

hud3 = hud2

605 eager]

1885 mull

mull: standard

605 eager] Mull (ed. 1885): “sharp.”

1888 macl

macl

605 nipping] Maclachlan (ed. 1888) justifies the Q2 variant: it works because between the hemistiches there is a time lag that assists the meter.

1938 parc

parc

605 eager] Parrott & Craig (ed. 1938): “sharp.”

1939 kit2

kit2 xref

605 eager] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "sharp. Horatio’s method of saying ’yes’ has already been noted [440-1] ."

1947 cln2

cln2: standard

605 eager] Rylands (ed. 1947): "sharp (Fr. aigre)."

1957 pel1

pel1: standard

605 eager] Farnham (ed. 1957): “sharp.”

1970 pel2

pel2 = pel1

605 eager] Farnham (ed. 1970): “sharp”

1980 pen2

pen2: standard

605 eager] Spencer (ed. 1980): “biting.”

1982 ard2

ard2: standard

605 eager]] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “sharp, bitter. The original sense; cf. Fr. aigre, and 754.”

1985 cam4

cam4: standard

605 eager] Edwards (ed. 1985): "sharp, biting. Compare [754]."

1987 oxf4

oxf4: OED

605 eager] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "bitter. OED cites this as the first instance of eager used to qualify air."

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

605 eager] Bevington (ed. 1988): “biting.”

1992 fol2

fol2: standard

605 eager] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “sharp (from the French aigre)”

2006 ard3q2

ard3q2: F1

605 nipping] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “All editors prefer F’s ’a nipping’ to Q2’s nipping, but the latter could make sense, referring to the temperature, i.e. ’it is bitter (cold)’.”

ard3q2: standard

605 eager] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “keen, sharp. From Old French aigre = sour.”