Folio Images
The images in this collection consist of a complete set of digital reproductions
of every page of the Shakespeare First Folio, Mr. William Shakespeares
Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (1623), including all known extant
states of pages for which variants have been identified.
Like all books of its period, the First Folio contains many press variants.
All individual copies of the edition contain both "corrected" and "uncorrected"
states of variant pages, and it is unlikely that any two of the approximately
230 extant copies are identical. Therefore, rather than using a single
Folger copy as a base, we have followed Charlton Hinman's practice in The
Norton Facsimile (New York: W.W. Norton and Sons, 1968; Second Edition,
1996) of selecting clean and complete exemplars of each page from a variety
of copies. However, while Hinman based his facsimile on the latest corrected
states of each page, this collection includes not only the corrected state
but all variant states of each page. This collection is therefore the fullest representation
of the Folio as an edition yet attempted. Folger copies were used
for all pages with the exception of R6v (Norton p. 222), variant
1 from the Lennox copy in the New York Public Library and rr3r
(Norton p. 805), variant 2 from the Church copy in the Huntington Library.
The identification of variants for this collection and the selection
of copies to photograph follows a report prepared by Peter W.M. Blayney
for this project. While Charlton Hinman's The Printing and Proof-Reading
of the First Folio of Shakespeare (Oxford: Oxford University Press,
1963, 2 Vols.) remains the standard work on press variants in the First
Folio, Blayney modified Hinman's list in several respects, on the basis
of his own research and that of others published since 1963.
Major differences between Blayney's and Hinman's list of variants
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Minor inking variants
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Hinman recorded many minor variations in inking which he considered to
be the deliberate correction of minor flaws such as inking spaces and heavy
inking caused by high standing type. Blayney regards most of these minor
variations as the result of the action of the inkballs and the platen during
printing, rather than as intentional corrections, and does not include
them in his list unless they result in variant readings. Forty three "Hinman"
variants are therefore not included in this collection.
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Pages not listed as variant by Hinman and pages for which the identification
of primary and variant states in this collection differs from the lists
in The Printing and Proof-Reading of the First Folio of Shakespeare
or from that of the Norton Facsimile.
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Sig. B2r (Norton p. 33). In 1978, Jeanne Addison Roberts
claimed, in Studies in Bibliography 31, that several Folger copies
show an intact crossbar at TLN 1786, yielding the reading "wife" rather
than "wise." Blayney's examination suggests that the apparent variant was
caused by a small foreign object, but the claimed variant is included in
this collection.
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Sig. D2r (Norton p. 33). Hinman noted the variation in
this page, but regarded it as "not deliberately introduced."
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Sig, H2v (Norton p. 106). Variant reported by Paul Werstine
in Publications of the Bibliographical Society of America 72 (1978).
Included in this collection.
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Sig. R6v (Norton p. 222). The page number is variant.
Variant photographed from the Lennox copy in New York Public Library.
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Sig. S5r (Norton p. 231). Damage noted by Hinman but
not listed as a variant by him. Included in this collection.
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Sig. ¶¶6v (Norton p. 614). Accidental alteration
of catchword noted by Hinman but not listed as variant. The Norton Facsimile
reproduces the altered state. Here, we reproduce the state prior to alteration
as primary, and the state photographed for the Norton Facsimile
as variant.
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Sig. Gg2v (Norton p. 696). Damaged state noted by Hinman,
but not listed as variant. The Norton Facsimile reproduces the damaged
state. Here, the intact state is reproduced as primary, the damaged state
as variant.
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Sig. kk2 (Norton p. 719). Damaged state noted by Hinman.
The Norton Facsimile reproduces the damaged state. Here, the intact state
is reproduced as the primary, the damaged state as variant.
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Sig. rr3v (Norton p. 805). Marked proof of variant page
reproduced from the Church copy in the Huntington Library.
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Sig. xx5v (Norton p. 858). Though there is no real textual
variation here, corrections were made in the placement of type in the catchword.
Blayney also differs from Hinman in the collation of the edition in the
case of two gatherings, and the signatures listed for those gatherings
(See below, HINMAN SIGNATURE, BLAYNEY SIGNATURE). In the case of Norton
pp. 13-17, this difference affects the page order. We have followed the
order of Blayney's collation for these pages, but the data fields show
the Hinman/Norton order as well.
Folio Data Fields:
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TITLE: Short play title.
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EDITION: Format (Folio, quarto, etc.), number and date are given
in this field.
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STC #: Number for edition (as given in A Short-Title Catalogue of
Books Printed in England, Scotland and Ireland and of English Books Printed
Abroad, 1475-1640, compiled by A.W. Pollard and G.R. Redgrave, 2nd
edition rev. and enlarged by W.A. Jackson, F.S. Ferguson and Katherine
F. Pantzer (London: Bibliographical Society, 1976)).
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COPY: Numbers refer to copies in the Folger collection. The two non-Folger copies used are listed as HN (Huntington Library) and NYP (New York Public Library).
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STATE: Primary states are the latest-corrected (or miscorrected)
states, or, in the case of pages that suffered damage, the latest state
before damage. Invariant states indicate pages for which there are no variants.
Variant states are listed in the order in which variation occurred. While,
from the point of view of the printing process, marked proof sheets are
instances of the states of the pages on which corrections are marked, they
are of exceptional interest and are marked as additional variants in this
collection.
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NORTON PAGE: The page number in the Norton Facsimile corresponding
to the image. Note that the Norton or N# of an image does not imply
that the same copy was photographed for this collection as that
used in the Norton. For most primary states this will be the case, but
check COPY to be certain. Most variant states will not be from copies
used in the Norton Facsimile, except in cases in which a state identified
by Hinman as primary is listed as variant by Blayney and in cases in which
Hinman included an especially interesting variant page in his appendix.
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PAGE ORDER, BLAYNEY COLLATION: This will be the same as the N# in
all but six cases. See BLAYNEY SIGNATURE, below.
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HINMAN SIGNATURE
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BLAYNEY SIGNATURE: Signatures follow Peter Blayney's collation, prepared for this project. This follows Hinman in all but ten cases:
Norton page
|
Hinman sig.
|
Blayney sig.
|
Blayney order
|
13
|
pA6r
|
pA5+1r
|
17
|
14
|
pA6v
|
pA5+1v
|
18
|
15
|
[pB1]r
|
pA5+2r
|
13
|
16
|
[pB1]v
|
pA5+2v
|
14
|
17
|
[pB2]r
|
pA6r
|
15
|
18
|
[pB2]v
|
pA6v
|
16
|
|
|
|
|
587
|
c1r
|
+'gg3'r
|
587
|
588
|
c1v
|
+'gg3'v
|
588
|
589
|
c2r
|
'gg4'r
|
589
|
590
|
c2v
|
'gg4'v
|
590
|
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NORTON PAGE:
The page number in the Norton Facsimile corresponding to the
image. When the Norton page number identifying an image appears alone,
the photograph was taken from the same copy as that used for the Norton
Facsimile. In the case of variant pages, equivalent page number in
the Norton Facsimile will be listed, but the specific copy will
not be the same, and the fact that the page is variant will be noted.
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TLN (Through Line Numbers): Consecutive numbers for each line
of text in a play, as used by Hinman in the Norton Facsimile. The numbers given are for the first and last line numbers for the page.
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Riverside ASL: The act, scene, and line number equivalent, in The
Riverside Shakespeare (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974, second ed. 1996),
of the first line of text in the Folio image.
Hamlet Quarto Images
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TITLE: Short play title.
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EDITION: Format (Folio=F, quarto=Q), number of edition and date
of edition are given in this field. The information in this field is the
same for all First Folio pages (F1, 1623).
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STC #: Number for edition (as given in A Short-Title Catalogue of
Books Printed in England, Scotland and Ireland and of English Books Printed
Abroad, 1475-1640, compiled by A.W. Pollard and G.R. Redgrave, 2nd
edition rev. and enlarged by W.A. Jackson, F.S. Ferguson and Katherine
F. Pantzer (London: Bibliographical Society, 1976)). The information in
this field is the same for all First Folio pages.
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COPY: Folger and Huntington copies are included here. The British
Library copies of Q1 and Q2 have also been digitized, as well as the Trinity
College Cambridge, Bodelian, Yale, and Wroclaw University copies of Q2.
These will be included in later phases of the Archive, pending permissions.
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SIGNATURE: Signatures for Hamlet Q1 and Q2 are those given
in The Three Text Hamlet and correspond to those that can be derived
from examining the editions themselves. Unlike the signatures in the First
Folio, they are not controversial.
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CLN: Consecutive line number. Line numbering for editions other
than the First Folio but conforming to the principles used to generate
TLN numbers. All lines of text are counted, but not white spaces.
The CLN for Hamlet Q1 is the same as and has been derived
from the Q1CLN used in The Three Text Hamlet. The CLN
for Hamlet Q2 is unique to this collection.
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TLN: This field designates the equivalent line number in
the First Folio for the first line of the page.
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Riverside ASL: The act, scene, and line number equivalent, in The
Riverside Shakespeare (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1974, second ed. 1996),
of the first line of text in the Folio image.