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.

1607 Sharpham

Sharpham

3128 vnbated] Sharpham (ed. 1607): “With many heart-biting thoughts, which like Acteons houndes haue almost slaine my selfe, yet now my constancie shall proue a glasse, in which your selfe shal see your own errors: the Lord Nonsuch which you haue long suspected, with vnrebated edge of lust, hath alwaies sought, (I must confesse) to cut my verie reputations throate, & this night—” ll. 6-12)

[Sharpham, Edward. Cupids Whirligig. 1607; rpt. The Golden Cockerel Press, 1926. (PR 3135 S5 A65.)

According to the edtior, Allardyce Nicholl, this is a coarse play. It has a great deal of double entends to take advantage of the children’s company. It ends conservatively however, with the various couples either joined or rejoined as a comedy should have them. Cupid is an invisible character who pronounces the “whirligig” of love that has people chasing each other in mad pursuit. It was apparently popular because it had four quarto editions during first half of 17th century. It was perfomred by the Children of the Kings Majesties Revels, who attempted to rival the children of the Blackfriars. According to Nicholl, they would cease by 1609.

Allardyce, borrowing from one M.W. Sampson [who has an essay in Studies in Lang. and Literature in Celebration of the 70th Birthday of J.M.Hart, 1910, 440-448], sees a Hamlet allusion in the following lines of the play:

Doost heare? ye are a sort of vncertaine giddy wauering, tottering tumbling creatures, your affections are like your selues, and your elues like your affections, vp & downe, liek the tuckes on your Petticotes, which you let fall and take vp as occasion serues: I haue seene of your sex fall in loue with a man, for wearing a hansome Rose on </p. 11> <p. 12>his shoe: another fall in the passion of the heart, to see a man vntie his pointe . . .: a third fall into the shaking Ague for eating a bodie cherry with two stones, and yet youl’ be fellowes, euen with the verie image of your maker. “p. 11-12 . ll. 32 (p.11)-l. 5 (p. 12)

Malone wonders if the vnabated in Ham. might mean the same thing as “vnrebated” here in this play. The line he refers to is from the opening pages as Lady Troublesome is attempting to tell her husband Sir Timothy Troublesome that she has not cuckolded him [he is the “Jealous Knight” one finds in most comedies, whose afraid he is being cuckolded, as in Volpone]. Her line to him is:

“With many heart-biting thoughts, which like Acteons houndes haue almost slaine my selfe, yet now my constancie shall proue a glasse, in which your selfe shal see your own errors: the Lord Nonsuch which you haue long suspected, with vnrebated edge of lust, hath alwaies sought, (I must confesse) to cut my verie reputations throate, & this night—” ll. 6-12)]

1726 theon

theon: see n. 3798

3128 vnbated] Theobald (1726, p. 119-20):<p. 119> “We meet this Word again, afterwards, in pag. 468. [3798] ‘The treach’rous Instrument is in thy hand, Unbated and envenom’d.’ The Generality of the Editions consent in reading, as the Derivation of the Word seems to require, UNBAITED. But still, I must confess, I want to be taught how unbaited comes to signify baited ? Un is a negative Particle (equivalent to the ¡neå of the Greeks;) which is prefixed to Thousands of English Words, and always deprives them of their native Sense, making them signify the direct contrary. And whenever it is so prefixed, I don’t know an Instance either in our Poet, in Spencer, or in Chaucer, that the compound Word signifies what the simple Word did before it was annexed. If I am not mistaken in this Observation, or it has not its particular Exceptions to which I am a Stranger, perhaps, we may with a very slight Change set our two Passages right. Why might not the Poet write, ‘A Sword Imbaited,—’ And so in the other Passage, Imbaited and envenom’d, —’ To imbait, is exactly what the Latines express by their inescare, or esca illinere; and we have a Multitude of Words, in our own</p. 119><p. 120>Idiom, compounded in the self same Manner; as, imbargo, imbark, imbase, imbattle, imbellish, imbezzle, imbibe, imbody, imbolden, imboss, imbowel, imbroil, imbrue, imbue, imburse, immerge, immit, immolate, immure, impact, impair, impale: Cum multis aliis, &c.” </p. 120>

Theobald continues this note for a few more pages with examples of un prefix meaning not. He also follows it up with a further note in his appendix changing his mind

3128 vnbated] Theobald (1726, Appendix, p. 191-2): <p. 192> “I have chang’d my Opinion, and begin to think the Text may rather be explain’d, than disturb’d or alter’d. The Poet is speaking of Swords and Foils, and by a Sword UNBATED, perhaps, he may mean a Sword unabated, or not robb’d of its Point, to distinguish it from a Foyl, which is blunted and charg’d at the End with a Button. If we are to suppose the Poet wrote Imbaited, or daub’d over with an Ointment, (as I there conjectured,) it is absurd for Laertes to reply to the King, who tells him he might easily chuse a sword ready baited, that he would anoint his Sword for the Purpose: Nor can there by any Occasion in the Second Passage [3798] for the Epiathet Envenom’d, as imbaited signfies the same Thing. But I submit Both Opinions to Judgment” (/p. 192).

1728 pope2

pope2 ≈ theon

3128 vnbated] Pope (ed. 1728): “that is, not blunted, as foyles are . Or as one edition has it, embaited or enuemed . “

1743 mF3

mF3

3128 vnbated] Anon. (ms. notes in F3, 1734) : “The same word occurs, only differently spelt, p. 759. col. 1.[3798]: ‘The treacherous instrument is in thine hand Unbated, and envenom’d:—’ [sic] perhaps unabated, not broken from Fr. abaitre: or rather unbuttond. without a button on the point.”

1747 warb

warb=pope2

3128 vnbated]

1753 blair

blair

3128 vnbated] Blair (ed. 1753, Glossary): “unabated, unblunted.”

1755 John

John

3128 vnbated] Johnson (1755, bate, 1): “v.a. [contracted from abate.]

1. To lessen anything; to retrench. ‘shall I bend low, and in a bondman’s key, With bated breath, and whisp’ring humbleness, Say this?’ MV.

“‘Nor envious at the sight will I forbear My plenteous bowl, nor bate my plenteous cheer.’ Dryden.”

3128 vnbated] Johnson (1755, unbated):”adj. [from bate] ‘Not repressed; not blunted. ‘Where is the horse, that doth untrad again His tedious measures with th’unbated fire That he did pace them first?’ MV.”

1765 Heath

Heath≈warb

3128 sword vnbated] Heath (1765, p. 546):”This is undoubtedly the true reading; for the embaiting or invenoming the point is the proposal of Laertes.”

1765 john1

john1

3124 he being remisse] Johnson (ed. 1765):“He being not vigilant or cautious.”

john1

3128 practise] Johnson (ed.1765) : “Practice is often by Shakespeare. and other old writers, taken for an insidious stratagem, or priuy treason, a sense not incongruous to this passage, where yet I rather believe, that nothing more is meant than a thrust for exercise.”

john1=Warb

3128 sword vnbated

1773 v1773

v1773=John1

3124 he being remisse

v1773=John1

3128 sword vnbated

v1773 = john1

3128 practise]

1773 jen

Jen≈pope2+

3128 sword vnbated] Jennens (ed.1773): “But what edition has embaited ?—And if there was one that had, this could not be the proper reading here. The poisoning the point of the sword is the proposal of Laertes; but let us suppose it to be the king’s proposal in the passage; then we have the king advising Laertes to choose an enuenomed sword out of the number that were to be produced to the combatants; but how is he to know which was envenomed (supposing any of them were) and which not, or who is supposed to envenom the sword? If he had advised Laertes to poison his sword after he had chosen it, he would speak, sense; otherwise nonsense.”

1773 gent

gent

3129 Requite . . . Father] Gentleman (apud Bell, ed. 1773): “This treacherous plot upon the life of Hamlet, is truly villainous on the part of his Majesty, and pitifully mean in Laertes, though he has lost a father; for no revenge can be just, that is not open and manlike; it is a bad feeling of the human heart, in its best shape: what must it be, in the worst?”

1774 capn

capn

3126 foyles] Capell (1774,:1:1:145): “It is evident from a number of passages,-- that the “ foils “ propos’d by the King, (3126) and us’d afterwards by Laertes and Hamlet must have been real rapiers or swords, arm’d with buttons like foils.”

capn

3128 sword vnbated] Capell (1774, 1:1:Glossary):”unabated]]: also,— unstop’d; i.e. wanting it’s Button, a Thing put upon Foils to abate the Force of them.” See also his xref to MV (a.s.l. [0000])

mmal1 -1778

mmal1 : Sharpham

3128 sword vnbated] Malone (ms. notes, -1778): <:56r>“Instead of my former note. Unbated seems to have meant the same as unrebated of which perhaps it was a contraction.

“Unrebated is used in the same sense in Cupid’s Whirligig 1616. ‘With unrebated edge of lust.’” <:/56r>“ [This note doesn’t appear in 1790 and Malone fails to identify this “former note,” which remains unidentified.]

1778 v1778

v1778=v1773

3124 he being remisse

v1778=v1773+

3128 sword vnbated] Steevens (ed. 1778): “There is no such reading as embaited in any edition. In Sir Thomas North’s Translation of Plutarch, it is said of one of the Metelli, that “he shewed the people the cruel fight of fencers at unrebated swords.’ STEEVENS”

v1778=v1773+

3128 pace of practise ] Steevens (ed. 1778) : “So, in Look about you, 1600:“I pray God there be no practice in this change.”

“Again, ‘--the man is like to die: Practice, by th’ mass, practise by the, &c---Practice by the Lord, practice, I see it clear.’

“Again, more appositely in our author’s TN (5.1.352 [2523] ‘This practise hath most shrewdly pass’d upon thee.’ STEEVENS.”

1784 ays1

ays1 ≈ john1 (only “not vigilant or cautious”) w/o attribution

3124 remisse

ays1 ≈ pope2 (only “not blunted as foils are”) w/o attribution

3128 sword vnbated]

ays1 = john1(via v1773?)

3128 practise]

1785 Mason

Mason≈jen

3128 sword vnbated] Mason (1785, p. 395):<p. 395> “If there were such a word as embaited, Warburton’s amend count could not be admitted, for the poisoning of the sword was not suggested by the King, it was afterwards thought of by Laertes himself: besides he says in the last scene, that his sword was unbated and envenomed.” </p. 395>

Mason≈jen

3128 pace of practise] Mason (1785, p. 395> “That is, a fauourite pass, one that Laertes was well practised in.

“In [Ado a.s.? (0000)], Hero’s father says, ‘I’ll prove it on his body if he dare Despite his nice fence, and his active practice.’

“The treachery on this occasion, was his using a sword unbated and envemoned.”</p. 395>

1785 v1785

v1785=v1778

3124 he being remisse

v1785=v1778

3128 sword vnbated

v1785=v1778

3128 pace of practise

1787 ann

ann = v1785

3124 he being remisse

ann = v1785

3128 sword vnbated

ann = v1785

3128 pace of practise

1790 mal

mal=v1785

3124 he being remisse

mal=v1785 (only Steevens’ Sir Thomas North analogue)+

3128 sword vnbated] Malone (ed. 1790) adds a new note to the citation which seems based on previous sources such as THEOBALD: “Not blunted, as foils are by a button fixed to the end. So in LLL(a.s.l. [0000]) : ‘That honour, which shall bate his scythe’s keen edge .’”

mal=v1785

3128 pace of practise ]

1791- rann

rann≈standard

3124 he being remisse] Rann (ed. 1791-): “inattentive, incautious.”

rann≈standard

3128 sword vnbated] RANN (1791 ed., p. 378) gives us this note: “not blunted, as foils are, and by a fly thrust, a skilful stroke.”

1793 v1793

v1793=Mal

3124 he being remisse

v1793=Mal+Pope2+

3128 pace of practise ] Mason (apud Steevens, ed. 1793): “A pass of practice is a favourite pass , one that Laertes was well practised in.—-In Ado (a.s.l. [0000]), Hero’s father says, ‘I’ll prove it on his body, if he dare, Despite his nice fence, and his active practice .The treachery on this occasion, was his using a sword unbated and enuenomed .’ M. MASON”

v1793=Mal

3128 sword vnbated

1803 v1803

v1803=v1793

3124 he being remisse

v1803=v1793

3128 sword vnbated

v1803=v1793

3128 pace of practise

1813 v1813

v1813=v1803

3124 he being remisse

v1813=v1803

3128 sword vnbated

v1813=v1803

3128 pace of practise ]

1815 Becket

Becket=v1813+

3128 sword vnbated] Becket (1815, pp. 66-7):<p. 67> “‘A sword unbated.’ This should be unrebated . To rebate is to blunt , to take off an edge or a point of a long weapon.B” </p. 67>

1818 Todd

Todd = JohnD +

3128 vnbated] Todd (1818, unbated): “adj. [from bate] “Not repressed; not blunted. ‘Where is the horse, that doth untrad again His tedious measures with th’unbated fire That he did pace them first?’ MV.[cites Ham.]”

1819 cald1

cald1≈standard

3124 he being remisse] Caldecott (ed. 1819):“Inattentive, as unsuspicious.”

cald1

3126 peruse the foils] Caldecott (ed. 1819) notes: “Closely inspect.”

cald1=v1813+

3128 sword vnbated] Caldecott (ed. 1819):”Not blunted, as foils are by a butten fixed to the end.”

He also adds, “see V.2. Laert.” (xref [000])

cald1

3128 pace of practise ] Caldecott (ed. 1819): “A favourite pass; in which experience assured him of success: but fraud or artifice, a sense in which it occurs throughout our author, can hardly be supposed here to be excluded: for such was the use of an unfair weapon. Upon the origin of the use of this word in this sense we are indebted to Mr. Todd for new information. ‘Præc, Sax. is cunning, sliness: and thence Prat in Gaw. Douglas, is a trick of fraud. Latter times, forgetting the original of words, applied to practise the sense of prat .’ Dict.”

1821 v1821

v1821=v1813

3124 he being remisse

v1821=v1813

3128 sword vnbated

v1821=v1813

3128 pace of practise ]

1822 Nares

Nares : v1821 (Look About You //) ; CALD1 (Todd //?)

3128 practise] Nares (1822; 1906): “s. Art, deceit, treachery. See Todd, in Practice, No. 8. ‘—This act persades me, That this remotion of the duke and her Is practice only’ Lr. 2.4.?(0000) ‘Oh thou, Othello, that wast once so good, Fall’n in the practice of a cursed slave.’ Oth. 5.2 .? (0000) ‘—Since I am inform’d, That he was apprehended by her practice, And, when he comes to trial for his life, She’ll stand up his accuser.’ Mass. Parl. of Love, 5.1. ‘I pray God there be no practice in this change.’ Look about you, 1600

“In our commoner sense of practice, that is, the habit of performing any thing, practick was most used.”

NARES : standard

3128 sword vnbated] Nares (1822; 1906): “Not blunted, as foils are, but having sharp point. [Hamlet cited]

“Pope says that some editions read here embaited, i.e. envenomed; but this must be a mistake, because in the very next act, unbated and envenomed are joined together: ‘The treacherous instrument is in thy hand Unbated and envenomed.’ [Ham. 5.2. (0000)].”

1826 SING1

Sing1≈Cald1 (LLL parallel+magenta underlined

3128 sword vnbated] SINGER (ed.1826): “i.e. unblunted, to bate , or rather ‘ to rebate , was to make dull. Aciem ferre hebetre.’ [gives LLL gloss] And in Measure for Measure:‘---rebate and blunt his natural edge.’

Sing1≈John1

3128 pace of practise]Singer (ed.1826): “Pass of practice is an insidious thrust . Shakespeare, in common with many of his contemporaries, always uses practice for art, deceit, treachery.”

1833 valpy

valpy ≈ standard

3124 sword vnbated] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Not blunted as foils are.”

1841 KNT1 (nd)

Knt1=Cald2 without attribution

3124 he being remisse

Knt1

3126 peruse the foils ] Knight (ed. [1841)notes: “examine.”

Knti

3128 sword vnbated] Knight (ed. [1841]): “not blunted”

1843 COL1

Col1≈Sing1 without attribution (definition & LLL parallel)

1844 verp

verp ≈ standard

3128 sword vnbated] Verplanck (ed. 1844): “i.e. not blunted: in [LLL 1.1.? (0000)] we meet with the word ‘bate’ for blunt—’That honour, which shall bate his scythe’s keen edge.’”

Del2

3125 Most . . . contriuing] Delius (ed. 1854) : “er hat keine Ahnung von einem Anschlag. Welcher Anschlag gemeint iest, sagen die folgenden Zeilen. Hamlet wird in seiner Arglosigkeit den Fechtdegen nicht genauer untersuchen, so dass Laertes leicht, order doch mit Hülfe eines kleinen Kunstgriffs, fÅr das stumpfe Rapier ein unabgestumpftes Schwert nehmen und damit an Hamlet den Tod des Polonius vergelten kann.” [“Hamlet has no notion of the plot, which the following lines explain. Hamlet will expect nothing in his unsuspecting manner from the fencing. So, Laertes can, with a little trick, take an unbated sword for a bated rapier and with that, pay back Hamlet for the death of Polonius.”]

3128 pace of practise] Delius (ed. 1854): “pass of practice ist ein hinterlistig angelagter Gang im Fechten.—practice=hinterlistiger Anschlag, ist ein gewîhnlicher Ausdruck bei Sh.” [“Pass of practice is a deceitful action in fencing. Practice is the deceitful plot and is a common expression in Sh.”]

1856 HUD1 (1851-6)

Hud1≈Col1 without attribution

3128 sword vnbated] Hudson (ed. 1856): “That is, unblunted. To bate, or rather to rebate, was to make dull. Thus in LLL: ‘that honour which shall bate his scythe’s keen edge.’

Hud1≈Sing1

3128 pace of practise ]Hudson (ed. 1856): “an insidious thrust.”

Sing2: removes Sing1 note

3124 he being remisse

Sing2=Sing1

3128 sword vnbated]

Sing2

3128 pace of practice] Singer (ed.1856) modifies his 1826 note: “a pass of skill , one in which the fencer was well practised .”

elze1: THEON ("Unbated signifies unabated, unblunted, not charged with a button as foils are") : LLL // ; Q1 var ; Nares

3128 sword vnbated]

elze1 : Mason

3128 pace of practice]

Col3=Col1+

3128 sword vnbated] Collier (ed. 1858): “In R3 (5.3. line [000]’ A.v. sc.4. Vol. iv. p. 352, we have seen ‘rebate’ misprinted abate , as pointed out by the corr. fo. 1632.”

COL3 : standard

3128 vnbated] Collier (ed. 1858, Glossary): “not blunted, sharp.”

1859 STAU

Stau≈standard

3128 sword vnbated] Staunton (ed. 1859): “unblunted, without a button the point, as fencing foils have.”

This is essentially the 1790 Malone note taken from Dyce, Singer?

San

3128 sword vnbated]SAN (1861, 265): <P. 265> “None of the commentators, so far as I know, have satisfactorily shown how the foils could be unbated without instant detection. Both fencers, it is to be remarked, are wounded without this exciting any particular remark: a thing which, if the buttons of ordinary foils had been broken off, either accidentally or by design, it could not fail to have done.

“I remember, when in Sweden in 1834, I saw an English periodical, published in Hamburg or elsewhere on the Continent, and containing a communication on this subject. The writer stated that at Jena, in addition to the ordinary foil, another kind had long been in use; the button of which could be screwed off altogether, or, so adjusted, as either completely to cover or partially to expose the point. Such foils, if not in use in England, may have been so at the continental university-towns in Shakspeare’s day, and would allow of Laertes’ wounding Hamlet without suspicion of foul play, or anything but mischance.

“A friend tells me he has seen rapiers with some such contrivance, either at the Maison Cluny or at Dresden; and it is not unlikely they may be found in some English collection. J. San” </p. 265>

1864a GLO

Glo≈standard

3128 sword vnbated] Clark & Wright (ed. 1864) : “p.p. unblunted.”

1864b KTLY

KTLY : standard

3128 vnbated] Keightley (ed. 1864 [1866]: Glossary):”i.e. sword not blunted as foils are.”

1864-68 C&MC

C&MC ≈ standard

3128 vnbated] Clarke (ed. 1864, Glossary)

3128 pace of practise] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “‘A skilful thrust;’ a pass in which Laertes was well practised.”

3124 remisse] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “‘Negligent of precaution.’”

1866b CAM1

CAM1 : POPE2 ;THEON

3128 sword vnbated] Clark & Wright (ed. 1866) : “Pope in his second edition says that ‘one edition has it, embaited or envenomed.’ We have not been able to find this reading in any copy, but Theobald (Shakespeare Restored, p. 119) conjectured ‘imbaited.’ As this conjecture is not mentioned in his edition,we have here, as in other cases, recorded it as as ‘withdrawn.’”

1869 Romdahl

Romdahl

3128 vnbated] Romdahl (1869, p. 39):<p. 39>“not blunted, from bate, a shortened form for abate (to beat down, diminish, moderate). Compare below [5.2.23 (0000)]. The folios read: unbaited.” </p. 39>

1869 tschisch

tschisch : Johnson’s Dict.

3127 shuffling] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “to act tumultuously and fraudulently. Sam. Johnson.”This may to Johnson’s Dictionary. We’ll have to check this gloss.

Tschischwitz

3128 vnbated] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “vom. ags. bâtan, die Lockspeise am Fischhaken befestigen, so dass dessen Spitze nicht zu merken ist; hier also: scharf, ohne Abstumpfung order Verhüllung an der Spitze.” [“from the A.S. bâtan, the bait fastened to the fishhook so that the point is not perceived; here also, sharp, without a blunting or wrapping on the point.

3128 pace of practise] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “Gen. Qualit.” [?]

1872 DEL4

DEL4 = DEL2

3125 Most . . . contriuing]

DEL4 ≈ DEL2

1870 Miles

Miles

3127-39 Miles (1870, 69-70): <p. 69>“Hamlet is exalted over the mere man of animal courage and passion, not only intellectually and physically, but morally too. The reckless ‘darer of damnation’ is unfortunately ready to dare dishonor too. The King might have spared himself the pains of feeling his way so nicely how far in villainy he could venture without shocking his man. They are both of a mind, although the master villain is the King: [cites 3127-31; 3150-53]</p. 69> <p. 70>

“Thus thickens the plot: in the foregound, the two conspirators, vindictive, eager, aggresive; in the distance, with Horatio, the great defensive avenger, moving ghostlike to his doom and theirs!” </p. 70>

1870 rug1

rug1

3125 Moberly (ed. 1873): “Oliver, in [AYL], while plotting his brother’s death, cannot help saying, ‘Yet he’s gentle; never schooled and yet learned; full of noble device,’ &c. He has not got so far in his wickedness as the king here, who only thinks of Hamlet’s generosity as an implement for his overthrow. But Laertes shews by his horrid suggestion of the poison how little need there was for the king to prepare the temptation as carefully as he had done.”

1872 cln1

cln1

3128 vnbated] Clark & wright (ed. 1872): “unblunted, with no button on the point. See [5.2.301 (0000).] The two forms of the verb ‘bate’ and ‘abate’ are used in the same sense. See [LLL 1.1.6 (0000)]: ‘That honour which shall bate his scythe’s keen edge.’ And [R3 5.5.35 (0000)]: ‘Abate the edge of traitors, gracious Lord.’ So also ‘rebate,’ [MM 1.4.60 (0000)]: ‘Doth rebate and blunt his natural edge.’”

3128 pace of practise] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “pass of practice]] a treacherous thrust. For ‘practice’ see line 62 [sic: actually 66 (3077)].”

1872 hud2

hud2 ≈ HUD1

3128 sword vnbated] Hudson (ed. 1872): “Unbated is unblunted; a foil without the cap, or button, which was put upon the point, when fencers were to play or practise their art.”

hud2

3128 pace of practise ] Hudson (ed. 1881): “a thrust made as in exercise of skill and without any purpose of harm; the thruster pretending to be ignorant of the button’s being off the foil.”

1873 rug2

rug2=rug1

1875 Marshall

Marshall

3128-39 Marshall (1875, pp. 85-6): <p. 85> “This scheme of Claudius is not so elaborate as we might have expected after such a long preamble; perhaps he purposely moderates its atrocity, being not quite sure how far he might go. He is soon reassured as to any doubts he </p. 85> <p. 86>might have felt regarding the willingness of such a pattern of chivalry, as Laertes, to stoop to any treachery; for to the temper’s comparatively simple plan of using an ‘unbated’ foil, the tempted adds the complex villany of anointing its point with a poison so deadly the slightest scratch from it would be fatal. . . . [see n. 3142-45]

“I have dwelt thus at length upon this scene both because it is of the greatest importance to follow it carefully before attempting to form any judgment of the character of Laertes, and because I believe it to be one of the most carefull elaborated scenes, as far as Shakespeare is concerned, in the whole play. The bare skeleton of it in the Quarto 1603 [Q1] shows us what great pains he has taken in the revision of it; and there is one important alteration which I cannot but hink shows, more than anything else, what Judgment Shakspeare intended us to form of Laertes. In the older version the King makes his proposal thus: ‘When you are hot in midst of all your play, Among the foyles shall a keene rapier lie, Steeped in a mixture of deadly poyson, That if it drawes but the least dramme of blood, In any part of him, he cannot liue;’ so that the idea of the poison does not come from Laertes, a circumstance which lessens his guilt in no little degree.” </p. 86>

1876 Nares

Nares

3128 vnbated] Nares (1876; 1905): “To bate]] To diminish; to subtract from. ‘In time the mighty mountains tops be bated; But, with their fall, the neighbour vales are fatted; And what, when Trent or Avon overflowe, They reave one field, they on the next bestowe.’ Sylvester’s Du Bartas.”

1877 v1877

v1877 : POPE2 ; Furness (paraphrasing THEON) ; ≈ v1778 (Plutarch analogue) ; MAL (LLL //) ; ≈ cln1 (minus Ham., LLL, // and quotations; minus definitions)

3128 vnbated] Furness (ed. 1877): “No edition has yet been found with this reading. Two years before Pope’s second edition was published in 1728, Theobald, in his Sh. Restored, p. 119, in a note on his passage had conjectured imbaited, and also on the same page suggested ‘imbaited and envenom’d’ for ‘unbated and envenom’d,’ [5.2.304 (0000)]. Hence arose, probably, Pope’s error. Theobald, in the Appendix, p. 192, withdrew these conjectures, and supposes that ‘unbated’ may here mean unabated, or not robbed of its point; nor, he adds, can the conjecture hold in the second passage without tautology, because ‘envenom’d’ signifies the same as imbaited.”

3128 vnbated] Clark & wright (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “See [R3 5.5.35. Also, ‘rebate,’ MM 1.4.60 (0000)].”

v1877 : ≈ JOHN1 (subst.) ; MASON (minus Ado //) ; cln1

3128 practise] Clark & wright (apud Furness, ed. 1877):”A treacherous thrust. See line 68 [3077] of this scene.”

1881 HUD3

hud3

3126 peruse the foyles] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Peruse, for observe closely or scrutinize.”

hud3 = hud2

3128 sword vnbated] Hudson (ed. 1881): “Unbated is unblunted; a foil without the cap, or button, which was put upon the point, when fencers were to play or practise their art.”

hud3 ≈ hud2

1883 WH2

wh2

3128 sword vnbated] White (ed. 1883): “without a button.”

3128 pace of practise] White (ed. 1883): “a thurst in foul play.”

3128 practise] White (ed. 1883): “bad practice.”

1885 macd

macd ≈ standard

3128 sword vnbated]

3128 pace of practise] MacDonald (ed. 1885): “Whether practice here means exercise or cunning, I cannot determine. Possibly the king uses the word as once before [3077] —to be taken as Laertes may please.”

1885 mull

mull ≈ standard

3128 sword vnbated]

1889 Barnett

Barnett

3128 pace of practise] Barnett (1889, p. 58): <p. 58> “a treacherous thrust.” </p. 58>

1890 irv

irv : standard

3124 remisse] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “careless.”

Irv : standard

3128 vnbated] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “unblunted.”

Irv

3128 vnbated] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Unbated means unblunted, i.e. without a button on the point. Bate, abate, and rebate are all used in Shakespeare with a similar meaning. See [MM], note 47.”

3128 pace of practise] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “a treacherous thrust.”

1891 OXF1

oxf1 : standard

3128 vnbated] Craig (ed. 1891: Glossary): “pl.p. unblunted, without the button at the point [Ham. 4.7.138 (0000); 5.2.331 (0000)].”

1899 ard1

ard1 ≈ v1877 w/o attribution

ard1 ≈ cln1 )(LLL //) w/o attribution

3128 vnbated] Dowden (ed. 1899): “not blunted, as foils are by a button. [LLL 1.1.6 (0000)]: ‘batye his scythe’s keen edge.’”

Ard1 : CRAIG?

3128 vnbated] Dowden (ed. 1899, Appendix III, p. 236): <p. 236> “Compare ‘unrebatedswords’ in North’s Plutarch, ‘Coriolanus,’ p. 241, ed. 1603.”

Ard1 ≈ v1877 w/o attribution

3128 pace of practise] Dowden (ed. 1899): “treacherous thrust; see [3077].”

1905 rltr

rltr : standard

3128 vnbated]

1906 NLSN1

nlsn1: standard

3128 vnbated] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary)

3128 pace] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary, pass): “pass]]

1931 craig

craig ≈ standard

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

1934a cam3

cam3 : standard

3128 pace of practise] Wilson (ed. 1934): “A quibble: (a) a bout for exercise, (b) a treacherous thrust; cf. l. 66 above, note 5.2.299 and G. ‘practice.’”

cam3 : standard

3128 vnbated] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary)

3128 pace] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary, pass): “pass]]”

1934b rid1

rid1 : standard

3128 vnbated] Ridley (ed. 1934, Glossary):

1936 kit1

kit1 ≈ standard

3128 vnbated]

3128 vnbated] Kittredge (ed. 1936, Glossary):

3128 pace of practise]

3128 pace] Kittredge (ed. 1936, Glossary):

3128 practise] Kittredge (ed. 1936, Glossary): See n. 3077.

1937 pen1a

pen1a : standard

3128 pace of practise]

1938 par-craig

par-craig : standard

3128 vnbated]

1942 NLSN2

nlsn2 ≈ standard

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

1947 cln2

cln2 ≈ standard

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

1951 ALEX

alex ≈ standard

3128 vnbated] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)

1951 bev1

bev1 = craig

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

1954 sis

sis ≈ standard

3128 vnbated] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):

1957 pel1

pel1 : standard

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

pel2 1970

pel2=pel1

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

1974 EVNS1

evns1≈ standard

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

1980 pen2

pen2 ≈ standard

3128 vnbated]

3128 pace of practise]

1982 ARD2

ard2 : contra cam3 (see n. 3674-6)

3128 vnbated] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “As distinct from a foil, which is blunted, or bated ((from ((a))bate, to weaken)), so as to ‘hit, but hurt not’ (([Ado 5.2.13 (0000)])). Though Shakespeare does not refer to foil buttons, Dover Wilson is mistaken in supposing these were not Elizabethan.”

ard2 : contra JOHN1

3128 pace of practise] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “An arranged match for a wager rules out the practice bout which Johnson and others have supposed. The word must refer to the trickery ((cf. [3077] above and [5.2.323 (0000)])). Cf. [Lr. 5.3.151ff (0000)], ‘This is practice . . . thou art not vanquish’d, But cozen’d and beguil’d’.”

ard2 ≈ standard +

3128 pace] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “. . . a bout ((as apparently at [5.2.162 (0000)])).”

1984 chal

chal : standard

3128 vnbated]

chal : cam3 ; Q2 VN √

3128 pace] pace]] Wilkes (ed. 1984): "a) a single sword thrust b) a bout in a fencing match."

chal

3128 practise] Wilkes (ed. 1984): "subterfuge."

1985 cam4

cam4 ≈ ard2 w/o attribution +

3128 pace of practise] Edwards (ed. 1985): “Claudius is speaking of a thrust which is intended to kill. ((The other possible meaning is ‘a bout intended for exercise’.)).”

1987 oxf4

oxf4 : ard1 w/o attribution (LLL //) ; OED

3128 vnbated] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “i.e. not blunted, as a foil is ((first instance of this sense of unbated cited by OED)). [LLL //].”

oxf4

3128 pace of practise] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “either ((1)) treacherous thrust, or ((2)) bout characterized by deliberate treachery ((on your part)).”

1988 bev2

bev2: standard

3128 pace of practise]

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

3128 pace of practise]

1993 dent

dent ≈ standard

3128 pace of practise]

1998 OED

OED

3128 vnbated] OED unbated, ppl. a. [UN-1 8.]1. = UNABATED ppl. a. 2. Not bated or blunted. 1602 SHAKS. Ham. IV. vii. 139 You may choose A Sword vnbaited, and in a passe of practice,Requit him for your Father.