Notes for lines 2951-end ed. Hardin A. Aasand
| 3534 I once did hold it as our statists doe, | 5.2.33 |
|---|
3535 A basenesse to write faire, and labourd much 3535
1744 han1
han1
3534 statists] Hanmer (ed. 1744: Glossary): “A Statesman. Ital. Statista.”
1753 blair
blair = han1 w/o attribution
3534 statists] Blair (ed. 1753, Glossary)
1755 John
John
3534 statists] Johnson (1755, Statist): “n.s. [from state] A statesman; a politician; one skilled in government. [cites Hamlet] ‘I do believe, Statist though I am none, nor like to be, That this shall prove a war.’ Shak. [Cym 2.4.16(1162)]. ‘Their orators thou then extoll’st, as those The top of Eloquence, statists indeed, And lovers of their country.’ Milton’s Paradise Reg.”
1765- mDavies
mDavies
3534-5 statists . . . faire] Davies (ms. notes in Johnson, ed. 1765): “As is the custom of our Countiers and Gentlemen of court.”
1773 v1773
v1773
3534 statists] Steevens (ed. 1773) : “A statist is a statesman. Milton uses it. Par. Reg. B.4. ‘—— statists indeed, And lovers of their country.’”
1778 v1778
v1778 : v1773 (only the definition) + magenta underlined
3534 statists] Steevens (ed. 1773) : “A statist is a statesman. So, in Shirley’s Humorous Courtier, 1640: ‘—that he is wise, a statist.’ Again, in Ben Jonson’s Magnetic Lady :
‘Will screw you out a secret from a statist .’ STEEVENS”
1780 mals
mals = v1778 + magenta underlined
3534-5 statists . . . faire] Malone (1780, p. 363) : “ To follow Steevens’s first note.] Most of the great men of Shakspeare’s times, whose autographs have been preserved, wrote very bad hands; their secretaries very neat ones.---------E. [Blackstone]”
1784 Davies
Davies : v1778 ; mals
3534-5 statists . . .
faire]
Davies (1784, p. 137) : <p. 137> “Mr. Steevens rightly observes, that
statists means
statesmen. Here also it comprehends all men of birth, rank, and fashion; all fine gentlemen, who, from affectation, thought it an indignity to our quality to write a plain and legible hand.”</p. 137>
1784 ays1
ays1 ≈ v1778 (only “A statist is a statesman.”) w/o attribution
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1785 v1785
v1785 = v1778 ; mals
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1787 ann
ann = v1785
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1790 mal
mal = v1785
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
-1790 mWesley
mWesley
3534-5 statists . . . faire] Wesley (typescript of ms. notes in ed. 1785): “This fairly applies to the statesmen of our day, the generality of whose writing is but little better than their sense.”
1791- rann
rann:
3534 statists] Rann (ed. 1791) : “statesmen, great men, fine gentlemen.”
1793 v1793
v1793 = v1785 +
3534-5 statists . . . faire] Ritson (apud Steevens, ed. 1793) : “‘I have in my time, (says Montaigne,) seene some, who by writing did earnestly get both their titles and living, to disavow their apprentiss age, marrie their pen, and affect the ignorance of so uulgar a qualitie .’ Florio’s translation, 1603, p. 125. RITSON”
1803 v1803
v1803 = v1785
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1813 v1813
v1813 = v1803
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1817 Hazlitt
Hazlitt
3533-38 Deuisd . . .
wrote]
Hazlitt (1817, p. 107): <p. 107> “He seems incapable of deliberate action, and is only hurried into extremities on the spur of the occasion, when he has no time to reflect, as in the scene where he kills Polonius, and again, where he alters the letters which Rosencraus and Guildenstern are taking with them to England, purporting his death.” </p. 107>
1819 cald1
cald1 = v1813
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1821 v1821
v1821 = v1813 +
3534-5 statists . . . faire] Boswell (ed. 1821) : “So, in the Woman Hater, by Fletcher: “Gent . ‘Tis well: and you have learned to write a bad hand, that the readers may take pains for it.—Your lordship hath a secretary that can write fair when you purpose to be understood.” BOSWELL”
v1821
3534-5 statists] Boswell (ed. 1821, 21:Glossary): “statesman.”
1826 sing1
sing1 ≈ v1813 (only the definition; minus Shirley & Jonson //s) + magenta underlined
3534-5 statists . . . faire] Singer (ed. 1826) : “This must be taken with some qualification; for Elizabeth’s two most powerful ministers, Leicester and Burleigh, both wrote good hands. It is certain that there were some who did write most wretched scrawls, but probably not from affectations; though it was accounted a mechanical and vulgar accomplishment to write a fair hand. The worst and most unintelligible scrawls I have met with, are Sir Richard Sackville’s, in Elizabeth’s time; and the miserable scribbling of Secretary Conway, of whom James said they had given him a secretary that could neither write nor read.”
1832 cald2
cald2 = cald1
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1833 valpy
valpy ≈ standard
3534 statists] Valpy (ed. 1833): “Statesmen.”
1843 mcol2
mcol2
3535 A baseness to write faire]Collier (ms. notes, ed. 1843): “In B + Fs[Beaumont and Fletcher] Woman Hater, a gent. instructing Lucio how to be considered a [illegible] statesman tells him ‘Tis well and you have learned to write a full hand, that the readers may take pains for it’ Act V. sc 1.”
1854 del2
del2
3535 A baseness to write faire] Delius (ed. 1854) : “Anspielungen auf die Affectation der Staatsmänner (statist), eine schöne Handscrift, als unter ihrer Würde, zu verschmähen, kommen inSh.’s Zeit auch sonst vor.” [ “Allusions to the affectation of statesmen to scorn a beautiful hand as beneath their dignity, occurred usually in Shakespeare’s time.”]
1856 hud1 (1851-6)
hud1 = sing1 without attribution
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1856 sing2
sing2 = sing1
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1857 elze1
elze1=
3534 statists] Elze (ed. 1857): "’A statist is a statesman.’ Steevens.—Die Namenszüge und Unterschriften waren zu Shakespeare’s Zeiten noch bei Weitem unleserlicher, als heut zu Tage. Ist doch seine eigene ein schlagendes Beispiel!" ["A statist is a statesman.’ Steevens. The signature and the signature below were in Sh’s time were unreadable still from a distance, as today. His own is a striking example."]
1861 wh1
wh1
3534 statists] White (ed. 1861) : “i.e., our state-ists, as we should say, statesmen.”
1864 ktly
ktly : standard
3534 statists] Keightley (ed. 1864 [1866]: Glossary):”a statesman.”
1864-68 c&mc
c&mc ≈ v1821 (Blackstone) +
3534 statists] Clarke & Clarke (ed. 1864-68, rpt. 1874-78): “Statesmen.’ [cites Blackstone] There were exceptions to this, of course; but it has always been a modish affectation to write illegibly as a mark of supposed superiority, and as if to write clearly were a mere vulgar and mechanical accomplishment—an affectation which the poet here satirises.”
1865 hal
hal = v1821
3534 statists]
1869 tsch
tsch
3534 statists] Tschischwitz (ed. 1869): “statist auch von Molière für homme d’état gebraucht u. aus dem ital. statista gebildet.” [“statist also used by Molière for homme d’état and formed from the Italian statista.”]
1872 del4
del4 = del2
3534-5 statists . . . faire]
1872 cln1
cln1 : v1821 (PR// ; Ritson and Blackstone quotations) +
3534 statists] Clark & Wright (ed. 1872): “statesmen. See [Cym. 2.4.16 (1162)]: ‘Statist though I am none.’ And Milton [PR 4.354]: ‘Statists indeed, And lovers of their country.’”
1872 hud2
Hud2 ≈ hud1 (minus Leicester & Burleigh analogues)
3534 statists]
1873 rug2
rug2
3534 statists] Moberly (ed. 1873): “Statesmen: like the nobleman who, as mark of respect, wrote with his own hand; but always acompanied his letter with a legible transcript by his secretary.”
1877 v1877
v1877 ≈v1773 (only “Statesmen.”) ; ≈ mals (Blackstone) ; ≈ v1793 (Ritson)
3534 statists]
1877 neil
neil ; v1877 (Magnetic Lady //) +
3534 statists] Neil (ed. 1877, Notes): “statesmen. So employed by Ben Jonson, ‘Your statist’s face; a serious, solemn, and supercilious face, full of formal and square gravity’—Cynthia’s Revels, II, iii. [cites Magnetic Lady] ‘That fluency and grace as are required both in a statist and a courtier’—The Antiquary (attributed to Shakerly Marmion), 1641, I, I, 61.”
1881 hud3
Hud3 = hud2
3534 statists]
1883 wh2
Wh2 ≈ wh1
3534 statists] White (ed. 1883): “statesmen.”
1885 macd
macd ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1885 mull
mull ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1889 Barnett
Barnett
3534 statists]
Barnett (1889, p. 62): <p. 62>“
statesmen.” </p. 62>
1890 irv2
irv2 : v1877 (Florio //)
3534-5 I . . . faire] Symons (in Irving & Marshall, ed. 1890): “It seems that illegible writing has always been considered a mark of distinction. It obviously is so now; and Shakespeare, and not Shakespeare alone, is witness that it was formerly. Ritson quotes from Florio’s Montaigne, 1603, p. 125: [RITSON’s v1793 note].”
1891 oxf1
oxf1 : standard
3534 statists] Craig (ed. 1891: Glossary): “sub. a statesman.”
1899 ard1
ard1 : cln1 (cym. //) ; v1877 (Florio //)
3534 statists]
1905 rltr
rltr : standard
3534 statists]
1906 nlsn
nlsn: standard
3534 statists]
1931 crg1
crg1 ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1934 rid1
rid1 : standard
3534 statists] Ridley (ed. 1934, Glossary):
1934 cam3
cam3 : standard ; Sh. Eng.
3534-35 Wilson (ed. 1934): “Cf. also in the same ch. of Montaigne ‘I commonly begin [letters] without project: the first words begets the second’ etc. with ll. 30-31 above.”
cam3 : standard
3534 statists] Wilson (ed. 1934, Glossary)
1939 kit2
kit2
3533-35 Kittredge (ed. 1939):“Lancashire (Pearson ed., IV, 189): ‘It hath been held that it is the part of a Gentleman, to write a scurvy hand’; Claudius Hollybrand, Campo di Fior, 1583 (ed. Byrne, The Elizabethan Home, 1925, p. 14): ‘Maurice. He said that there was no shorter waye to learne much, then to write faire and swifte. Mendoze But our noble men for the most parte, doe not obeye this commandement: which thinketh it a good and an honorable thing not to write well—thou wouldest saye it were the scratching of hennes.’”
kit2
3535 A basenesse] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary): “a low accomplishment.”
kit2
3535 faire] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary): “in legible script.”
kit2 ≈ standard
3534 statists] Kittredge (ed. 1939):
kit2 ≈ standard
3534 statists] Kittredge (ed. 1939, Glossary):
1937 pen1a
pen1a : standard + reference to Elizabeth’s own degenerated penmanship
3535 A basenesse]
1938 parc
parc ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1942 n&h
n&h ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1947 cln2
cln2 ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1951 alex
alex ≈ standard
3534 statists] Alexander (ed. 1951, Glossary)
1951 crg2
crg2=crg1
3534 statists]
1954 sis
sis ≈ standard
3534 statists] Sisson (ed. 1954, Glossary):
1957 pel1
pel1 : standard
3534 statists]
1970 pel2
pel2=pel1
3534 statists]
1974 evns1
evns1
3535 A basenesse] Evans (ed. 1974): “i.e. a skill befitting men of low rank.”
evns1 ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1980 pen2
pen2 ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1982 ard2
ard2 ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1984 chal
chal : standard
3534 statists]
chal : standard
3535 A basenesse]
1985 cam4
cam4 ≈ standard
3534 statists]
cam4 ≈ evns1 w/o attribution
3535 A basenesse]
1987 oxf4
oxf4 ≈ standard
3534 statists]
1988 bev2
bev2: standard
3534 statists]
bev2: standard
3535 A basenesse]
1992 fol2
fol2≈ standard
3534 statists]
fol2≈ standard
3535 A basenesse]
1993 dent
dent ≈ oxf4
3534 statists]
dent ≈ oxf4
3535 A basenesse]
1998 OED
OED
3534 statists] The word probably originated in Italian, though evidence of its earlier currency in that lang. is wanting.]A. sb. 1. One skilled in state affairs, one having political knowledge, power, or influence; a politician, statesman. Very common in 17th c. Now arch.
1584 SIDNEY in A. Collins S. Lett. (1746) I. I. 63 When he plais the Statist, wringing veri unlukkili
some of Machiavels Axiomes to serve his Purpos then indeed; then he tryumphes. c 1590 Sir T. More (Malone Soc.) 772 Hees great in studie, thats the statists grace that gaines more reuerence then the outward place. 1600 W. WATSON Decacordon (1602) 222 Thereby shall be seene..whether the seculars or Iesuits are greater statists: that is, intermedlers in state affairs. 1602 SHAKS. Ham. V. ii. 33
3534 3535
