Line 1012 - 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
| 1012 {By heauen} <It seemes> it is as proper to our age | 2.1.111 |
|---|
1765 john1
john1
1012-15 By . . . discretion] Johnson (ed. 1765): “This is not the remark of a weak man. The vice of age is too much suspicion. Men long accustomed to the wiles of life cast commonly beyond themselves, let their cunning go further than reason can attend it. This is always the fault of a little mind, made artful by long commerce with the world.”
1773 v1773
v1773 = john1
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1777 Griffth
Griffith: john1 +
1012-15 By . . . discretion] Griffith (1777, 2:286): “Upon this reflection, Dr. Johnson says, ‘This is not the remark of a weak man.’ It is not, indeed; but why should Polonius be deemed so? He certainly speaks very good sense throughout, though with the natural and respectable mixture of the old man in it; which, methinks, as Addison says of Cornaro’s † stile, is an improvement to it. As to the manner in which he describes Hamlet’s madness, in Scene IV. following, I take it to be only designed by Shakespeare in ridicule of the old pedantic mode of definitions, or quaint distinctions, in logic and philosophy; the categories, predicaments, and predicables of the Schools, used in those times. There are many instances of the same oblique strictures, upon other subjects, in our Author: I have therefore, ever thought this character mistaken, and, consequently, misrepresented upon the stage, by its being generally given to a comic actor.”
<n†> He wrote a treatise on health and long life, at fourscore, commended in the Spectator, No. 195.” </n†>
BWK: I don’t see how Sh. can ridicule what Polonius says without ridiculing Polonius. I placed her comment in the Polonius doc.
1778 v1778
v1778 = v1773
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1787 ann
ann = v1785
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1790 mal
mal = v1785
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1791- Wesley
Wesley: john1 +
1012-15 By . . . discretion] Wesley (1790-, p. 45): “Not always; I have known men of great minds with this fault. Fine, and generally true.
The 1st sentence seems to be responding to Johnson’s comment about this always being the fault of a little mind. The second sentence seems to be about something else, or he may mean that Johnson’s comment is well-phrased and usually true.
1791- rann
rann ≈ john1 without attribution
1012-15 By . . . discretion] Rann (ed. 1791-): “—The vice of age is, too much suspicion. Men long accustomed to the wiles of life cast commonly beyond themselves, let their cunning go further than reason can attend it.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = mal
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1793
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1819 cald1
cald1: v1813 (mal, john1)
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1826 sing1
sing1 ≈ john1 without attribution
1012-15 By . . . discretion] Singer (ed. 1826): “This is not the remark of a weak man. It is always the fault of a little mind made artful by long commerce with the world.”
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1843 col1
col1
1012 By heauen] Collier (ed. 1843): “The Master of the Revels seems to have been especially scrupulous, and in the folio we find ‘It seems’ substituted for ‘By heaven.’ ”
1854 del2
del2
1012 By heauen] Delius (ed. 1854): “Die Qs haben by heaven, und wenn diese Aenderung, gewiss von Sh. selbst, in Folge der Theatercensur vorgenommen ist—obwohl heaven sonst vor diesem Tribunal Gnade fand (vgl. Anm. 27) —so ist sie jedenfalls eine Verbesserung, da sie die reflectirende grüblerische Redeweise besser charackterisirt.” [The 4tos have by heaven, but it seems is an improvement that better characterizes Polonius’s musing way of speaking. It’s likely that the improvement is Sh.’s own, because the censor allowed other instances of heaven to stand (see 972 and n. 972).]
1861 wh1
wh1
1012 By heauen] White (ed. 1861): “The folio, ‘It seems,’ for the reason so often mentioned for similar changes.”
1872 cln1
cln1
1012 proper] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “appropriate. Compare [2H4 1.3.31 (532)]: ‘Imagination proper to mankind.’”
1872 hud2
hud2 ≈ john1 without attribution
1012-15 By . . . discretion] Hudson (ed. 1872): “We old men are as apt to overreach ourselves with our own policy, as the young are to miscarry through inconsideration.”
1877 v1877
v1877 = cln1 minus quot.
1012 proper]
Furness (ed. 1877): “
Clarendon: Appropriate. Compare [
2H4 1.3.32 (000)].”
1880 Tanger
Tanger ≈ del2 without attribution
1012 By heauen] Tanger (1880, p. 126) 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.”
1881 hud3
hud3 = hud2
1012-15 By . . . discretion]
1885 macd
macd ≈ john1 on Pol. without attribution
1012-15 By heauen . . . discretion] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Polonius is a man of faculty. His courtier-life, his self-seeking, his vanity, have made and make him the fool he is.”
1934 Wilson
Wilson MSH
1012 By heauen] Wilson (1934, p. 84) assumes that since heaven does not constitute profanity the F1 variant much be due to his Scribe C’s usual carelessness. See 71, above.
1939 kit2
kit2: standard
1012 proper] Kittredge (ed. 1939): "characteristic of."
1980 pen2
pen2: standard
1012 proper to] Spencer (ed. 1980): “characteristic of.”
pen2: standard
1012 our age] Spencer (ed. 1980): “(that is, old age).”
1985 cam4
cam4: standard
1012 as proper to] Edwards (ed. 1985): "as characteristic of."
1987 oxf4
oxf4: standard
1012 proper . . . age] Hibbard (ed. 1987): "i.e. natural to us old men."
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
1012 proper . . . age] Bevington (ed. 1988): “characteristic of us (old) men.”
1992 fol2
fol2: standard
1012 proper to our age] Mowat & Werstine (ed. 1992): “characteristic of the old”
1993 Kliman
Kliman
1012 By heauen] Kliman (1993): Post-Restoration 4tos, which usually eliminate all references to anything religious that they can possibly cut, keep Polonius’s religious ejaculations: By the mass earlier, by Heaven here: they may be making a point about his religiosity.
2006 ard3q2
ard3q2: standard
1012 proper to] Thompson & Taylor (ed. 2006): “appropriate to, characteristic of”
1012