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.

1865 hal

hal

1273-4 Fortunes lap] Halliwell (ed. 1865): “"The flat cap," observes Mr. Fairhohlt, ’became very prevalent during the reign of Henry VII., and was in constant use by the middle classes during the early part of the seventeenth century. The cut copied from tapestry of Henry the seventh’s era, shews the flaps then constantly appended to it, turned up and secured by a strap and button. It is obvious that such a button might be of the most costly material, of enriched by jewels, according to the wealth of the weare."

1882 elze

elze : hal, dyce, Fairhohlt

1273-4 Fortunes lap] Elze (ed. 1882): “In Mr Halliwell-Phillipps’ folio edition this passage has been illustrated with a cut copied from tapestry of the time of Henry VII and showing a cap the flaps of which are turned up and secured by a strap and button. ‘It is obvious’, observes Mr Halliwell-Phillipps, ‘that such a button might be of the most costly material, according to the wealth of the wearer.’ This, however, is not to the point, as our poet does not introduce the button as the most costly, but as the uppermost part of the cap, in contrast to the soles as the nethermost part of dress. In Mr Halliwell-Phillipps’ illustration the button of the cap is, and from its destination must be, placed at the side, and it seems, therefore, most unlikely that the poet should have alluded to this kind of cap. The prototype of ‘Fortune’s cap’ may rather be recognised in the flat round cap worn by citizens in the XV. and XVI. centuries. The most eloquent praise of this citizens’ cap, in contradistinction to the square cap of the scholar on the one hand and the newfangled long hat on the other, is sung by Candido in Dekker’s Honest Whore, Part II, I, 3 (Middleton, ed. Dyce, III, 147). ‘The citizens of London’, remarks Dyce on Part I, III, I of the same play (Middleton, III, 58), ‘both masters and journeymen, continued to wear flat round caps long after they had ceased to be fashionable, and were hence in derision termed flat-caps [or simply caps; see Part II of The Honest Whore, passim].’ Although Dyce does not say that this round cap was crowned by a button at the top, yet this seems so much the more likely as the scholars’ cap is distinguished by the same ornament; perhaps both of them resembled in this respect the well-known Tam-o’-Shanter of the Scotch, to which the poet seems to allude in a later passage of our play, viz. in the line: A very riband in the cap of youth (§ 192). There is indeed in Mr Halliwell-Phillipps’ folio edition another illustration of a cap decorated with ribbon which has been copied by Mr Fairholt from a German woodcut dated 1583. ‘The wealthier classes’, adds Mr Fairholt, ‘frequently decorated the simple flat cap with aiguillettes, strings of pearl, jewels, and bows of silken ribbon. The latter being a comparatively cheap decoration was often used in the caps of young persons.’ All this is very true, but the ribbon in Mr Fairholt’s cut is twined round the cap in the form of a wreath and it may well be asked, if Shakespeare had not in his mind’s eye a cap with a flowing ribbon — just like the Tam-o’-Shanter, provided that this national Scotch cap should not be the invention of a later day. See Jahrbuch der Deutschen Shakespeare-Gesellschaft, XVI, 245 seq.”

1890 irv

irv : elze, hal, dyce

1273-4 Fortunes lap] Symons (in Irving & Marshall ed. 1890): “Qq. print lap, a misprint for Cap, as the Ff. spell it, with an initial capital. Elze, pp. 156, 157, has an interesting note on this allusion. ‘In Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps’ Folio edition,’ he says,’ this passage has been illustrated with a cut copied from tapestry of the time of Henry VII., and showing a cap the flaps of which are turned up and secured by a strap and a button. ‘It is obvious,’ observes Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps, ‘that such a button might be of the most costly material, according to the wealth of the wearer.’ This, however, is not to the point, as out poet does not introduce the button as the most costly, but as the uppermost part of the cap, in contrast to the soles as the nethermost part of dress. In Mr. Halliwell-Phillipps’ illustration the button of the cap is, and from its destination must be, placed at the side, and it seems therefore, most unlikely that the poet should have been alluded to this kind of cap. The prototype of ‘Fortune’s cap’ may rather be recognized in the flat round cap worn by citizens in the XV. And XVI. centuries. The most eloquent praise of this citizens’ cap, in contradistinction to the square cap of the scholar on the one hand and the new fangled long hat on the other, is sung by Candido in Dekker’s Honest Whore, Part II. I. 3 (Middleton, ed. Dyce, ii. 147). ‘The citizens of London,’ remarks Dyce on Part I. Iii. 1 of the same play (Middleton, iii. 58), ‘both masters and journeymen, continued to wear flat round caps long after they ceased to be fashionable, and were hence in derision termed flat-caps [or simply caps; see Part II. Of the Honest Whore, passim].’ Although Dyce does not say that this round cap was crowned by a button at the top, yet this seems so much the more likely as the scholar’s cap is distinguished by the same ornament; perhaps both of them resembled in this respect the well-known Tam-o’-Shanter of the Scotch.’