The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] | Page 6

the metre made in passages where no change was required and no improvement effected.
In recording conjectures, we have excepted only (1) those which were so near some other reading previously adopted or suggested, as to be undeserving of separate record, and (2) a few (of Becket, Jackson, and others) which were palpably erroneous. Even of these we have given a sufficient number to serve as samples.
We will now proceed to explain the notation employed in the foot-notes, which, in some cases, the necessity of compressing may have rendered obscure.
The four Folios are designated respectively by the letters F1, F2, F3, and F4, and the quarto editions of separate plays, in each case, by the letters Q1, Q2, Q3, &c.
When one or more of the Quartos differ so widely from the Folios that a complete collation is impossible, the letters which designate them are put between brackets, for the sake of keeping this difference before the mind of the reader. Thus, in the Merry Wives of Windsor, the two earliest Quartos differ widely from the Folios, while the third Quarto (1630) is printed from the first Folio. Hence, they are designated thus: I. 4. 20, Cain] F3 F4. Kane (Q1 Q2). Caine F1 Q3 F2.
When no authority is given for the reading in the text, it is to be understood that it is derived from such of the Folios as are not subsequently mentioned. Thus, in the Comedy of Errors, II. 2. 203, the eye] thy eye F2 F3 indicates that F1 and F4 agree in reading 'the eye.'
In the same scene, line 191, the note 'or] and Theobald' means, that the four Folios, followed by Rowe and Pope, agree in reading 'or.'
When the difference between the reading adopted and that given in one or more of the Folios is a mere difference of spelling, it has not been thought worth while to record the name of the first editor who modernized it: for instance, in the Two Gentlemen of Verona, II. 6. 35, the note is: counsel] counsaile F1 F2. councel F3. council F4.
We have given at full the name of the editor who first introduced a particular reading, without recording which of his successors adopted it. Thus, in Measure for Measure, III. 1. 138, 'grant' for 'shield' is read by Pope, Theobald, Hanmer, Warburton, and others, but the first only is mentioned: 'shield] F1. shield: F2 F3 F4. grant Pope.'
The conjectures made by annotators or by editors, but not introduced by them into the text, are distinguished by the addition of 'conj.,' as 'Farmer conj.,' 'Johnson conj.' &c. 'Steevens (Farmer conj.)' indicates that the reading in question was first suggested by Farmer, and first introduced into the text by Steevens. If, however, the person who first made the conjecture, afterwards became an editor, and gave it in his own text, while, in the mean time, it had been adopted by some other editor, the 'conj.' is omitted. Thus, for example, 'Theobald (Warburton)' shows that Warburton was the first to propose such and such a change, that Theobald first incorporated it in the text, and that Warburton afterwards gave it in the text of his own edition. We have designated the readings derived from Mr Collier's corrected copy of the second folio thus: 'Collier MS.' not 'Collier MS. conj.,' as in this case we could consult brevity without danger of misleading any one.
We have arranged the names both of Editors and of Commentators (as far as was possible) in order of time. It has frequently happened that several persons have hit on the same conjecture independently. In such cases we have assigned it to the earliest, determining the priority by the date of publication.
The metrical arrangement of each passage is marked in the notes by printing each word which commences a line with an initial capital letter. In the Folios, many substantives, other than proper names or titles, are printed with initial capitals; but, in order to avoid ambiguity, we have generally made our quotations conform, in this respect, to the modern usage.
We had originally intended to give in our Preface a catalogue raisonné of all the editions of our author and other books used by us in the preparation of the present work, but this labour has been fortunately spared us by Mr Bohn's reissue of Lowndes's Bibliographer's Manual, the eighth part of which contains a full and accurate account of Shakespearian literature. To that work we refer our readers for more complete bibliographical details, and propose to confine ourselves to some remarks on the critical value of the principal editions and commentaries. We have, of course, confined our collation to those editions which seemed to possess an independent value of their own. Mr Bohn enumerates two hundred and sixty-two different editions of Shakespeare. It was therefore a matter