Symbols and Abbreviations Used in hamletworks.org
Abbreviations and other terms*
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4to, 4tos quarto, quartos
a after TLN 1st half or part of a line (see TLN)
Anon., anon. anonymous, sometimes with nom de plume
apud according to, used when a CN comes from someone other than the original author
b after TLN 2nd half or part of a line
BL British Library, London; formerly at the British Museum
Bod. Bodleian Library, Oxford
c. circa (in date); copy (in shelf number)
Cent. Century Dictionary
conj. conjecture. Not found in the text of an edition; found either in a CN or in a work other than an edition
DP, dp Dramatis Personae, the cast of characters
ed. editor, edition
eds. editors, editions
eds. of Ham. see table of eds. listed by siglum
F forte; strong conjecture in mtby (Thirlby ms. notes) CNs
F Folio
F1 First Folio, 1623
F2 Second Folio, 1632
F3 Third Folio, 1663/64
F4 Fourth Folio, 1685
F. Q. Spenser’s Fairy Queen
(see editions bibliography for further information)
Many of these families have the same siglum except for a numeral: rowe1, rowe2, rowe3; wilk1, wilk2, etc.
Q2, Q3, Q4, Q5, early editions, 1604-1637
F1, F2, F3, F4, folios 1623-1685
Q6, Q7, Q8, Q9, Q10, players’ editions (PQ), 1676-1703
john1, john2, john3, v1773, v1778, v1785, mal, v1793, v1803, v1813, v1821 are all related. Editors include Johnson, Steevens, Malone, Reed and Boswell.
Fol Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, DC, as in mtheo3Folc.1
fol(s). folio(s), i.e. leaf(ves) in ms(s) and early books
fsql weak conjecture in mtby CNs
Ham. Hamlet, the play
Ham. Hamlet, the character
highlight(ed) italics, bold, brackets and other means to emphasize
ital. italics
m before a siglum means manuscript notes
MED Middle English Dictionary
ms(s) manuscript(s)
mtby manuscript notes by Styan Thirlby in eighteenth-century editions
mtby1 notes in a copy of rowe1, missing (reward for discovery)
mtby2 notes in a copy of pope1, Beinecke Library, Yale, New Haven, CT
mtby3 notes in a copy of theo1, Folger Shakespeare Library
mtby4 notes in a copy of warb, Folger Shakespeare Library
nb; n.b. nota bene; note
OED Oxford English Dictionary
P. L. Milton’s Paradise Lost
p., pp. page, pages
Q1 Ham. First Quarto, 1603
Q2 Ham. Second Quarto, some copies dated 1604, others 1605
Q3 Ham. Third Quarto, 1611
Q4 Ham. Fourth Quarto, 1623 (before F1)
Q5 Ham. Fifth Quarto, 1637
Q6 Ham. First Players’ Quarto, 4-line imprint on title page, 1676
Q7 Ham. Second Players’ Quarto, 5-line imprint on title page, 1676
Q8 Ham. Third Players’ Quarto, 1683
Q9 Ham. Fourth Players’ Quarto, 1695
Q10 Ham. Fifth Players’ Quarto, 1703
r recto, the first side of a leaf with signature numbers. See “sig.” and “v” = “verso”
Ado Much Ado about Nothing.
Ant. Antony and Cleopatra.
AWW All's Well that Ends Well.
AYL As You Like It.
Cor. Coriolanus.
Cym. Cymbeline.
Err. The Comedy of Errors.
1H4 1 Henry IV.
2H4 2 Henry IV.
H5 Henry V.
1H6 1 Henry VI.
2H6 2 Henry VI.
3H6 3 Henry VI.
H8 Henry VIII.
Ham. Hamlet.
JC Julius Caesar.
Jn. King John.
LLL Love's Labour's Lost.
Lr. King Lear.
Mac. Macbeth.
MM Measure for Measure.
MND A Midsummer Night's Dream
MV The Merchant of Venice.
Oth. Othello.
Per. Pericles.
R2 Richard II.
R3 Richard III.
Rom. Romeo and Juliet.
Shr. The Taming of the Shrew.
TGV Two Gentlemen of Verona.
Tim. Timon of Athens.
Tit. Titus Andronicus.
Tmp. The Tempest.
TN Twelfth Night.
TNK The Two Noble Kinsmen.
Tro. Troilus and Cressida.
Wiv. The Merry Wives of Windsor.
WT The Winter's Tale.
LC A Lover's Complaint.
Luc. The Rape of Lucrece.
PhT The Phoenix and Turtle.
PP The Passionate Pilgrim.
Son. The Sonnets.
Ven. Venus and Adonis.
xref (cross-reference), references to other TLN in Ham.
// (parallel), reference to Shn poems or plays aside from Ham.
analogue reference to a non-Shn work. If written before Ham., it may or may not be a source for Sh.
+ magenta underlined, identifies new material in the commentary note by magenta highlight and underscoring without attribution, verbatim or close paraphrase of a comment found in an earlier edition.
contra, indicates that the commentary opposes an earlier edition’s comment.
S&A source and/or analogue
SD stage direction
Sh. “Shakespeare” and all other spellings
Shn “Shakespearean” and all other spellings
sigla codes used for editions, often an abbreviation of the editor’s name, an abbreviation of the publisher or series name, the number in a series (Q2, Q3, etc.), or the year of publication (especially for variorum editions, v1821, v1877)
sig. signature, combinations of letters and numbers used instead of or in addition to page numbers in early texts, such as 4tos and folios; see recto and verso
SP speech prefix, naming the speaker of what follows
St Statute; stanza
(subst.) substantive(ly). A word found mainly in TNM, in the list of sigla that = Q2, discounting immaterial variants
TCC Trinity College Cambridge, England
TLN Through-Line-Number(s) as in the Hinman First Folio published by Norton, used by permission
TNI textual note, immaterial; see forthcoming textual issues essay for parameters
TNM textual note, material; see forthcoming textual issues essay for parameters
v. vide, see
v verso, the overside of a leaf that has a signature number rather than (or in addition to) page number; see “r” = “recto,” “sig.”
V&A archives at the Victoria and Albert Museum
VN variant note
Wilson, John Dover
MSH Manuscripts of Shakespeare's Hamlet 1934
WHH What Happens in Hamlet 1935
^ punctuation absent
~ in a note saying that punctuation varies: disregarding verbal form of lemma
. . . ellipses, in TNI strings, refer to (as yet) uncollated editions (generally after hud3)
. . . in a TN variant means a significant pause
2421
5
wagge6
]
Fiebig7
(ed. 1857)
8
: “To
wag, to shake, to move; to
wag the tongue against one, to
attack him with harsh words, or elsewhere, with ludicrous speech.”
9
1858 col3
2422
11
Collier (ed. 1858): “See an able pamphlet (which we believe we are warranted in imputing to Mr. C. Soames) entitled ‘Hamlet: an Attempt to ascertain whether the Queen were accessory before the fact in the murder of her first Husband,' 1856, 8vo. The point has been contested with some warmth among the commentators, but we entirely concur in the views of the writer of this tract, as to the innocence of the Queen. He avails himself, with excellent judgment, of the new evidence derived from the 4to, 1603, not formerly in the hands of the editors of Shakespeare.”
Seymour
2424-31
13
That . . .
glowe] Seymour (1805, pp. 184-5
14
): <p.184> “The text, as here exhibited [see TNM], is preferable to that of the quarto, as it gives a stronger and more familiar sense. Both heaven and earth, says Ham- </p.184><p.185> let, are affected at the enormity of what you have done; the sun is inflamed with anger, and the earth, contemplating your unnatural crime, is sorrowful and sick, just as she would be at the approach of the general dissolution of the world.” </p.185>
15
[ ] insertion by hamletworks.org editors
[[ ]] brackets in the original CN
< >, </> beginning and end of pages, signatures, notes
<n>, </n> beginning and end of notes appended by the author of a CN
<p>, </p> beginning and end of pages; volume numbers, if any, are in parentheses with date after the author’s name
. . . omission of commentary by the hamletworks.org editors; sometimes [. . . ] for clarity
“=” An equal sign between the CN’s siglum and that of another writer means the two are exactly alike
Note: Generally the work named on the right of the equal sign is the latest that could have been used; often, however, the given work had used some prior ed. For example, mal = v1785 means that Malone might have used v1785 or any prior edition in the Johnson-Steevens family of editions that is the same as v1785 (e.g. v1773, v1778)
“≈” an approximate sign means the named works are equivalent
“without attribution,” found in 2nd line of some commentary notes, means that the idea is equivalent to (≈) or that the exact wording comes from (=) a prior source, which is not credited. For various reasons, without attribution may not mean plagiarism. For example,
1) it might not be the work’s practice to assign credit for notes. This is true of many school editions;
2) the similarity may be accidental or the gloss may have become standard, a word that can sometimes be found in the second line.
When writers assign attributions for some CNs but not others, they imply (sometimes misleadingly) that unattributed ideas are their own.
“:” a colon means the work to its left refers to that on the right of the punctuation
“; ” a semi-colon separates items in a list of references when necessary for clarity