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Line 3330-31 - 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 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand

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

3330-1 haue {tooke} <taken> note of it, \| the age is growne so picked, that the toe of the

1617 Minsheu

Minsheu

3331 picked] Minsheu (1617, rpt. 1978, To picke): “To picke or trimme. Vid. Trimme.”

3331 picked] Minsheu (1617, rpt. 1978, Trimme): “To Trimme up a thing, to make it seeme fairer. T. Manglen, B. Mangelen. L. Mangonizare, à Græc. magganew, à magganwn , I. præstigiæ, delusiones, incantatiónes, à [. . . . skipping Chaldean script]ingeniu, calitidas, astutia. Vide to paint, or to counterfeit.”

mTBY2 1723-33? ms. notes in POPE1

mTBY2

3331 that] Thirlby (ms. notes in Pope, ed. 1723 [1723-33?]): “I had wrote in the margin f [probably] that.”

1747 han1 [Check han1 against han2 /han3]√

han1

3331 picked] Hanmer (ed. 1747, 6: Glossary) : “sharp, smart. Fr. Piquè”

1754 blair

blair = han1 w/o attribution

3331 picked] Blair (ed. 1753, Glossary)

1760 John2

John2

3301 picked] Johnson (2nd ed. 1760, picked): “a. [pique, Fr.] Sharp; smart Mortimer”

1765 john1

john1 : han1 + magenta underlined

3331 picked] Johnson (ed. 1765) : “So smart, so sharp; says Hanmer, very properly; but there was, I think about that, a picked shoe, that is, a shoe, with a long pointed toe, in fashion, to which the allusion seems likewise to be made. Every man now is smart; and every man now is a man of fashion.”

-1779 mtol1

mtol1 = john1

3331 picked] Tollet (ms. notes in. Theobald, ed. 1740, [-1779]):” i.e. so smart, so sharp; says Hanmer, very properly; but there was, I think about that time a picked shoe, i.e. with a long pointed toe in fashion, to which the allusion seems likewise to be made. Every man now is smart; and every man now is a man of fashion—Johnson. Quote.”

1773 v1773

v1773 = john1 +

3331 picked] Steevens (ed. 1773) : “This fashion of wearing shoes with long pointed toes was carried to such excess in England, that it was restrained at last by proclamation so long ago as the fifth year of Edward IV.”

1774-79? capn

1779-83 capn ≈ han1

3331 picked] Capell (1779-83 [1774]:1:1: Glossary) : [Jn 1.1.193 (203) & LLL 5.1.13 (1751)] nice or delicate: properly,—pointed, ending in a Point, or Peak, rectius —Pike; from the French Word— piquer, to prick. ‘piked,’ in all the Places refer’d to, has Allusion to the Form of the Beard.”

[n.d. -1778] mmal1

mmal1

3331 picked] Malone (ms. notes, -1778) : <fol. 56v>“to follow your [STEEVENS?] note

“The same fashion is mentioned by Bulwer in his Pedigree of the English Gallant 1653.

“Seneca the orator, among other his affectations of greatness, would ever wear his shoes bigger than his feet—A fashion which we of late have generally taken up, to wear our forked shoes almost as long again as our feet , not a little to the hindrance of the foot— In the time of Queen Mary square toes were grown in fashion, insomuch as men wore their shoes of so prodigious a breadth at the toes, that if I remember aright, there was a proclamation came out, that no man should wear his shoes above six inches square at the toes—If the reduction & moderation afforded such a latitude, what was the transgression & extravagancy?—We may remember also when sharp piquant toes were altogether in request—” </fol. 56v >

1778 v1778

v1778 = v1773 +

3331 picked] Steevens (ed. 1778) : “. . . when it was ordered, ‘that the beaks or pykes of shoes and botts should not pass two inches, upon pain of cursing by the clergy, and forfeiting twenty shillings, to be paid one noble to the king, another to the cordwainers of London, and the third to the chamber of London;—and for other countries and towns the like order was taken.—Before this time, and since the year 1382, the pykes of shoes and boots were of such length, that they were fain to be tied up to the knees with chains of silver, and gilt, or at least with silken laces.’ ”

1784 ays1

ays1 ≈ john1 with attribution

3331 picked]

1785 v1785

v1785 = v1778

3331 picked]

1787 ann

ann = v1785

3331 picked]

1790 mal

mal : contra v1785 (for contradiction) + magenta

3331 picked] Malone (ed. 1790) : “ i.e. so spruce, so quaint, so affected. See Vol. II. p. 393, n. 4, and Vol. IV. p. 546, n. 2

“There is, I think, no allusion to picked or pointed shoes, as has been supposed. Picked was a common word of Shakspeare’s age, in the sense above given, and is sound in Minsheu’s Dictionary, 1617, with its original signification: “Trimm’d or drest sprucely.” It is here used metaphorically. ”

1791- rann

rann : john1

3301 picked] Rann (ed. 1791-) : “sharp, delicate, refined”

1793 v1793

v1793 = v1785 ; mal +

3331 picked] Steevens (ed. 1793) : “I should have concurred with Mr. Malone in giving a general sense to the epithet— picked , but for Hamlet’s mention of the toe of the peasant, &c. ”

1803 v1803

v1803 = v1793

3331 picked]

1805 Seymour

Seymour :

3331 picked] Mason (1805, 2: 199) : <p. 199>“The people at large are become so polished and refined. In this sense the word is used in [Jn 1.1.193 (203)]: ‘My picked man of countries.’”</p. 199>

1807 Douce

Douce : mal

3331 picked] Douce (1807, rpt. 1839, p. 477): <p. 477>“Mr. Malone’s note, in exclusion of the others, is sufficiently satisfactory. The fashion of wearing pointed shoes, to which Hamlet had been supposed to allude, had ceased long before the time of Shakespeare; nor is it probably that he would have transferred it to the age of Hamlet. We still say a person treads close on the heels of another , in the same signification as in the text.” </p. 477>

1813 v1813

v1813 = v1803

3331 picked]

1819 cald1

cald1 : v1778 + magenta underlined

3331 picked] Caldecott (ed. 1819) : “ ‘At once pointed so fine and sharp, and having also so much of vogue and fashionable character.’ The two ideas are so clung together, that one appears plainly to have drawn on the other. The general and particular allusion is so incorporated, that it must be taken as a twin birth, not to be separated without injury to itself, and confusion to the reader. See [LLL 5.1.13 (1751)]

“For that , the fo. of 1632 reads and .

“It was ordered, Mr. Steevens says, by proclamation, in 5 Ed. IV., that ‘ the beaks or pykes of shoes and boots should not pass two inches, upon pain of cursing by the clergy, and forfeiting twenty shillings.’

“In the preceding reign, the pykes of shoes and boots were of such length, that they were fain to be tied up to the knees with chains of silver, and gilt, or at least with silken laces.”1

1821 v1821

v1821 = v1813

3331 picked]

1822 Nares

Nares : cald1 (LLL //?) : STEEVENS? (from what source?)

3331 picked] Nares (1822; 1906): “a. Nicely spruced out in dress. ‘It is a metaphor taken from birds, who dress themselves by picking out, or pruning, their broken or superfluous feathers.’ Steevens ‘He is too picked, too spruce,too affected, too odd, as it were too peregrinate, as I may call it.’ [LLL. 5.1. 13(1751)] ‘Why then I suck my teeth, and catechize My picked man of countries. [Jn. 1.1. 193(203)] [Hamlet citation] ‘Tis such a picked f ellow, not a haire About his whole bulk, but it stands in print.’ Chapman’s All Fools, O.Pl. iv. 185 ‘Certain quaint, pickt, and neat companions, attired—a la mode die France.’ Greene’s Def. of C. Catching.

“So it is in Chaucer, ‘He kembeth him,he proineth, and piketh .’ Cant. Tales, 9885. All the explanations from piked shoes, beards, &c. are nothing to the purpose; nor from the sense of picked, as meaning selected, picked out.”

1826 sing1

sing1

3331 picked] Singer (ed. 1826) : “Picked is curious , over nice. Thus in the Cambridge Dict. 1594:---’Conquisitus, exquisite, and picked , perfite, fine, dainty, curious .’ See [Jn. 1.1.13 (203)]”

1832 cald2

cald2 = cald1 + magenta underlined

3331 picked] Caldecott (ed. 1832): “See Picked in the sense of piked or pruned. ‘Spruce, affected.’”

1832 CALDECOTT essentially repeats the 1819 format of its note, but it does interject one sentence between the initial paraphrase and the reference to LLL:

1833 valpy

valpy≈ standard

3331 picked] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Spruce, affected.”

[1839] knt1 (nd)

knt1

3331 picked] Knight (ed. [1839]) : “Picked , is spruce, affected, smart; to pick being the same as to trim . Some, however, think that the word was derived from picked, peaked boots, which were extravagantly long—and hence the association with the ‘toe of the peasant.’”

1843 col1

col1 : standard

3331 picked] Collier (ed. 1843) : “The sense of ‘picked,’ in the previous part of the sentence, is explained by Minshew in 1617, as ‘trimmed, or dressed spruce.’ ‘Picked’ may also allude to the pointed shoes formerly worn.”

1844 verp

verp ≈ col1 (only “is explained . . . ‘dressed sprucely’)

3331 picked] Verplanck (ed. 1844):

1846 Schlegel

Schlegel

3331-3 the age . . . kybe] Schlegel (1808, rpt. 1811, tr. 1846, p. 349-50) : “The distinction of ranks was as yet strongly marked: a state of things ardently to be desired by the dramatic poet. In conversation they took pleasure in quick and unexpected answers; and the witty sally passed rapidly like a ball from </p. 349><p. 350> mouth to mouth, till the merry game could no longer be kept up. This, and the abuse of the play on words, (of which King James was himself very fond, and we need not therefore wonder at the universality of the mode,) may, doubtless, be considered as instances of a bad taste; but to take them [. . . ] symptoms of rudeness and barbarity, is not less absurd than to infer the poverty of a people from their luxurious extravagance. These strained repartees are frequently employed by Shakespeare, with the view of painting the actual tone of the society in his day; it does not, however, follow, that they [. . . ]with his approbation; on the contrary, it clearly appears that he held them in derision. Hamlet says, in the scene with the Gravedigger, ‘By the Lord, Horatio, these three years I have taken note of it: the age is grown so picked, that the toe of the peasant comes so near the heel of the courtier, he galls his kibe.’” </p. 350>

1854 del2

del2

3331 picked] Delius (ed. 1854) : “Die Zeit ist so überbildet, dass diese allgemein verbreitete Bildung den Bauern in unmittelbare Nähe des Hofmannes bringt, so nahe, dass der Bauer mit der Spitze seines Schuhes auf die Ferse des Hofmannes tritt und die Frost beulen an der Ferse wund tritt. Ein Beispiel von solchem raffinierten (picked) Wesen unter den Bauern hatte Hamlet eben an dem Clown gehabt.”[ “The age is so overly trained that these widespread breedings bring the farmer into the immediate vicinity of the courtier, so near, that the farmer trips with the tips of his shoes on the head of the courtier, and the chilblain steps on his sore heel. An example of such a picked life under the farmers Hamlet has just had, according to the clown.”]

1856 hud1 (1851-6)

hud1 = sing1 without attribution (minus Camb. Dict. gloss)

3331 picked]

1856b sing2

sing2 = sing1

3331 picked]

1857 elze1

elze1: han1 ; mal ; Douce; Schlegel

3331 picked] Elze (ed. 1857): "’so picked’ erklärt Sir T. Hammer [sic] durch ’so smart, so sharp’; Malone durch ’so spruce, so quaint, so affected.’ Steevens bezieht es fälschlich auf die geschnäbelten Schuhe, die überdies zu Shakespeare’s Zeit längst wieder abgekommen waren. Nares s. Picked. Douce II, 263. Schlegel: Das Zeitalter wird so spitzfindig." [’So picked’ Sir T. Hamner explains as ’so smart, so sharp; Malone through ’so spruce, so quaint, so affected.’ Steevens represents it falsely as a pointed shoes which were appearing for a long time again in Shakespeare’s time. Nares, see picked; Douce II, 263. Schlegel: "The old days are so precise, pointed.’]

1858 col3

col3=col1

3301 picked]

1859 stau

stau

3331 picked] Staunton (ed. 1859): “so refined , so fastidious , so precise .”

1864 Bickers

Bickers ≈ standard

3331 picked] Clarke (ed. 1864, Glossary)

1865 hal

hal: sing1? mal?

3331 picked] Tyrwhitt (apud Halliwell, ed. 1865) : “Picked is curious , over nice. Thus in the Cambridge Dict. 1594:— ‘Conquisitus, exquisite, and picked , perfite, fine, dainty, curious .’ See [Jn 1.1.? (203)] The substantive pickedness is used by Ben Jonson for nicely in dress. Discoueries, vol. vii. Whalley’s edit. p. 116: ‘—too much pickedness is not manly.’—Tyrwhitt”

hal: sing1? mal?

3331 picked] Malone (apud Halliwell, ed. 1865) : “Again, in Nashe’s Apologie of Pierce Penniless, 1593: ‘—he might have showed a picked effeminate carpet knight, under the fictionate person of Hermaphroditus.’—”

1868 c&mc

c&mc ≈ standard

3331 picked] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1868): “‘Over-particular,’ ‘excessively precise.’ See Note 10, Act v. [LLL].”

1872 del4

del4 = del2

3331 picked]

1872 cln1

cln1 : standard

3331 picked] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “precise, smart. Compare [LLL 5.1.14 (1751); ‘He is too picked, too spruce, too affected, too odd.’ And [Jn 1.1.193 (203)]: My picked man of countries.’ Cotgrave (French Dict.) gives: ‘Miste, Neat, spruce, compt, quaint, picked, minion, trickesie, fine, gay.’ There may possibly be a covert reference to the pointed shoes which were once in fashion.”

1872 hud2

hud2=hud1

3301 picked]

1877 v1877

v1877= han1; ≈ john1 (minus Everyman . . . man of fashion) ; ≈ v1778 (STEEVENS; minus to be paid . . . order was taken) ; ≈ mal (minus Minsheu definition) ;≈ Douce (summarized) ; ≈ cln1 (only Cotgrave definition)

3331 picked] Clark & Wright (apud Furness, ed. 1877): “Cotgrave gives: ‘Miste, Neat, spruce, compt, quaint, picked, minion, trickesie, fine, gay.’ There may possibly be a covert reference to the pointed shoes which were once in fashion.”

1881 hud3

hud3 ≈ hud2 (“See vol. x, page 13, note 21”: Is this the KJ // above?)

3331 picked]

1885 macd

macd ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1885 mull

mull ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1889 Barnett

Barnett

3331 picked] Barnett (1889, p. 60): <p. 60> “sharp; perhaps a punning allusion to the pointed toes of the shoes. A.S. pycan, to pick.” </p. 60>

1890 irv2

irv2 : standard

3331 picked]

irv2 ≈ v1877 (CLARENDON)

3331 picked] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “Cotgrave defines Miste: ‘Neat, spruce, compt, quaint, picked, minion, tricksie, fine, gay.’ See [LLL 5.1.14 (1751)], note 145.”

1891 oxf1

oxf1

3301 picked] Craig (ed. 1891: Glossary): “adj. refined, punctillous [LLL 5.1.14? (1751)] [Jn 1.1.193 (203)].”

1899 ard1

ard1 : standard (v1877? with LLL //; cln1’s use of Minsheu)

3331 picked]

1905 rltr

rltr : standard

3331 picked]

1906 nlsn

nlsn: standard

3331 picked] Neilson (ed. 1906, Glossary)

1931 crg1

crg1 ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1934 Wilson

Wilson

3330 tooke note] Wilson (1934, 2:240) sees this as an example of a Q2 usage that need not have been corrected in F1, given the “haue tooke” presence in TN 1.5.282 [554]; Rom. 1.5.110 [690]; and Cymb. 3.6.48 [2134].

1934 rid1

rid1 : standard

3331 picked] Ridley (ed. 1934, Glossary):

1934 cam3

cam3 : standard : OED

3331 picked] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary): “(a) fastidious, finical, exquisite (cf. LLL 5.1.13 (1751) ‘He is too picked, too spruce, too affected’), (b) peaked, pointed (possibly in reference to ‘picked shoes,’ shoes with long projecting points; N.E.D. quotes instance of this use from 1615).”

1939 kit2

kit2 ≈ standard

3331 picked]

3331 picked] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary):

kit2

3331-32 that . . . Courtier] Kittredge (ed. 1939): “that the peasant has become almost as polished in language and manners as the courtier.”

1937 pen1a

pen1a : standard +

3331-32 that . . . Courtier] Harrison (ed. 1937) observes that from 1598 and on, writers noted the social changes wrought by yeomen farmers who, rich from war profits, sent offspring to London to acquire polite manners (see A health to the Gentlemanly profession of serving men (entered May 15th 1598). Jonson satirizes these in Every Man In and Every Man out. Harrison considers the New Rich profiteers of World War I similarly rustic though wealthy.

1938 parc

parc ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1942 n&h

n&h ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1947 cln2

cln2 ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1951 alex

alex ≈ standard

3331 picked] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)

1951 crg2

crg2=crg1

3331 picked]

1954 sis

sis ≈ standard

3331 picked] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):

1957 pel1

pel1 : standard

3331 picked]

1970 pel2

pel2=pel1

3331 picked]

1974 evns1

evns1 ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1980 pen2

pen2 ≈ standard

3331 picked]

pen2

3331-32 that . . . Courtier] Spencer (ed. 1980): “(a curious echo of the Queen’s image at IV.7.163 [3155]: One woe doth tread upon another’s heel.).”

1982 ard2

ard2 : Abbott

3330 tooke] Jenkins (ed. 1982): “This use of the past tense for the participle ((Abbott 343)) is common in Shakespeare. F modernizes ((as also at [3361, 3374].”

ard2 ≈ standard

3331 picked]

ard2 : Kit1

3331-32 that . . . Courtier] Jenkins (ed. 1982)

1984 chal

chal :

3331 picked] Wilkes (ed. 1984): "rarefied."

1985 cam4

cam4 ≈ standard

3331 picked]

1987 oxf4

oxf4 : OED ; Jn. // +

3331 picked] Hibbard (ed. 1987): “There seems to be a connection between picked, toothpicks, and foreign travel.”

1992 fol2

fol2≈ standard

3331-32 that . . . Courtier]

1993 dent

dent ≈ standard

3331 picked]

2008 OED

OED ≈ standard

3331 picked]]OED 1. Spruce, smart; adorned; refined, exquisite; (of language) ornate, elaborate, flowery. Also (in negative sense): finical, particular, fastidious. Obs. (in later use arch., sometimes echoing quot. 1604 at [Ham.]).