¹ Published by Thomas Walkley in Britain's Burse, 1622, about two years prior to the marketing of F.

² See H. A. Evans, ed., “Introduction” to Othello, Praetorius facs. ed. (London, 1885). He describes the Q as probably one of the “maim'd and deformed” copies with which the public was frequently abused. Obviously Evans has examined only a fraction of the variants. See esp. xiv: “Thus out of 170 instances, F 1 has the better reading 91 times, Q 2, 77 times, and Q 1, 30 times.” Moreover, Evans considered Q 2 an independent authority.

³ See J. Dover Wilson et al., Studies in the First Folio, Shak. Ass'n. (Oxford, 1924), pp. 67–68; A. W. Pollard, Shakespeare Folios and Quartos (London, 1909); R. Crompton Rhodes, Shakespeare's First Folio (New York, 1923), 107 ff. See Miss Kathryn A. Robb's unpublished M.A. dissertation on the text of Othello (University of Iowa, 1928). It postulates a Proto-Othello, antecedent to either the F or Q versions. This, she believes, followed Cinthio more closely and required more characters. According to Miss Robb, F 1 becomes a much amplified revision of Q 1 because it rounds out the play and tries to readjust metrics after the deletion of oaths. See also Hardin Craig, “Shakespeare's Revisions” in Johns Hopkins Alumni Mag., xix (1930–31), 341 ff. For Shakespeare's often radical alteration of his sources, see Sir Sidney Lee, Great Englishmen of the 16th Century (New York, 1904), 306.

⁴ Esp. Richard III. (1597), 2 Henry IV. (1600), Hamlet (1604), Lear (1608), Troilus and Cressida (1609), and Othello (1622). See Wilson et al., op. cit., pp. 58 ff.

⁵ Variations in capitalization, abbreviation, punctuation, contraction, etc., are obviously not included. Cf. M. A. Bayfield, A Study in Shakespeare's Versification (Cambridge, 1920), 267 ff., for overemphasis on the importance of contractions; ibid., pp. 294 ff. for correction.

⁶ These are the first quarto (Q) of 1622 and the first folio (F) of 1623. The second quarto (1630) is derivative.

⁷ See the present writer, “Othello, Q 1, Reconsidered,” PMLA, xlvii, 671–683. Note: p. 672, date of Q 2 The Maid's Tragedy should be 1622 as passim; p. 680, substitute “Q 3” for “Q 2” Philaster. Q 4 appeared in 1634. No “quots” in note 62.

⁸ Should the oaths be figured in the numerical count, the Q, aside from surpassing the F in certain items in the tables, would prevent an accurate statistical record in the case of variants resulting from non-editorial phenomena.

⁹ The following key will explain symbols and method passim: in columns of variants, the F reading is always given first. By “par” is meant “per-se indifferent” readings. These “par” groupings have often been extended to include preferential sub-divisions. The term “non-variant” is applied to words the variations in which are chiefly orthographic, or words whose forms are used interchangeably. Collations were made on the basis of a photostat copy of Sidney Lee's facsimile reprint of the Chatsworth copy of the first folio (Lee, ed., First Folio, London, 1902) and the Griggs-Praetorius photographic facsimile of Q 1.

¹⁰ Limitations of this paper make a detailed discussion of these “cuts” impossible here. Another article on this subject will appear shortly.

¹¹ References based on H. H. Furness, ed., Othello, var. ed. (Philadelphia, 1886).

¹² Note that all occur in act one, scene three. A substitute typesetter?

¹³ This arrangement of lines corresponds to that of Q 2, except for the half-line “Haue a free way,” which is evidently desirable.

¹⁴ The punctuation of the Q is suggestive of its having combined two independent lines, neglecting the speech-heading of the senator and forcing the rhythm by a substitution of “hence” for “away.”

¹⁵ Half-lines, of course, are counted as wholes when they are final or have no complement. For various comments on the following lines see E. K. Chambers, William Shakespeare (Oxford, 1930), i, 459. See Q, 4.1.192 ff. Signature “K,” page 65 of facs. ed., gives the catch-word “Iag.”

¹⁶ 3.4.73 is printed twice in Q. Repetitions and omissions of lines result from the same circumstances. A comment on 5.1.81 appears in J. D. Wilson, in Essays and Studies, x, 37; also Chambers, op. cit., i, 414–415. Cf. F and Q versions of Lear 5.3.309. Cf. also F and Q of The Maid's Tragedy, 5.4.151.

¹⁷ Oaths, stage directions, etc., are obviously not included.

¹⁸ The compositor probably glanced at the preceding words: “night well,” and misread the “g” as an “f.”

¹⁹ Intrusions in prose are more difficult to locate; those listed are at best conjectural.

²⁰ See E. D. Romig in Colorado Univ. Studies, xv, 75.

²¹ F omits “by this hand.” The “and” is probably derived from this phrase, and hence is spurious.

²² See N.E.D.—“Tvsh” was probably removed from F text with the oaths. A similar case may be noted in Richard III., which, like Othello, has a “good” quarto (1.2.187). It does, however, appear three times in F: Much Ado, 3.3.130; Taming of the Shrew, 1.2.211.

²³ Cf. 5.1.32, where the variant appears reversed.

²⁴ Cf. 2.1.24, where F has “lads” and Q “lords.” “Lord” must have had a confusing abbreviation in MSS.: sometimes l^ds or l^s.

²⁵ Cf. quartos of The Scornful Lady (3.1.37) and Philaster (2.1.9): “conster.”

²⁶ See Abbott, Shakespearean Grammar, paragraph 156.

²⁷ See R. P. Cowl, King Henry IV. and Other Plays (Bruges, [1927]), p. 19.

²⁸ Cf. N.E.D., which gives status to words previously disregarded.

²⁹ Cf. the F-Q variant in Richard III., (5.3.47): F, “nine”; Q, “sixe.”

³⁰ “Ieastures” may be partly justified, if it be applied to Bianca's darting eyes, which, by their movements, seem to confess her complicity in the affair.

³¹ A possible meaning: the billows are trying to quench the brightest of stars—one that seldom fails the mariner.

³² Cf., however, 1.3.310.

³³ Shakespeare uses “height” throughout his plays in the sense of “exalted rank, estate, or degree.” (cf. N.E.D.) See A.W., 2.2.2; 1 Hen. IV., 2.4.3; Rich. iii, 4.4.243; etc. Also The Maid's Tragedy, 2.1.301.

³⁴ See, however, 3.3.306.

³⁵ The idea is active; cf. Hen. VIII, 3.2.197; A.Y.L.I., 2.1.7 etc.

³⁶ Cf. N.E.D., iv, 472 recto: used with a verb it has the sense of to “go on doing” or continue. Context means: “to continue to express his rage. …” (It is possible, of course, to favor the F reading on grounds that “for his” in the MS. was read “ forh 'is” and then expanded to “forth his.” Moreover the F use appears elsewhere in Shakespeare.)

³⁷ The F form is probably aphetic, with foul case of “f.”

³⁸ See 3.3.432: “Are you a Man? Haue you a Soule?”

³⁹ The Q form is recorded in N.E.D., ix, 128, recto.

⁴⁰ Consult N.E.D.

⁴¹ Cf. 1.3.189: Q prints “heate” instead of “hinte.”

⁴² The interrupted dialogue of the Q may be more dramatic.

⁴³ See C. D. Stewart, Some Textual Difficulties in Shakespeare (New Haven, 1914), p. 170 ff.

⁴⁴ The Q is accompanied by an oath, and is apparently the original undisturbed reading.

⁴⁵ “Your” abbreviated in MSS. as y ^r might easily be mistaken for y ^t or “it.”

⁴⁶ Cf. 5.2.291.

⁴⁷ Redundancy is not uncommon in Shakespeare.

⁴⁸ The presence of the mild oath in F probably indicates that the “I know” of the MS. could not be deciphered by the F compositor.

⁴⁹ Q, with its original oath, probably preserves also the original reading.

⁵⁰ The original probably read: “O would that you had had her.”

⁵¹ Probably a survival of the misprinted line in the uncorrected F sheets: “And Hell gnaw his bones.”

⁵² The Q preserves the pause and is more dramatic.

⁵³ Cf. Abbott, op. cit., par. 338; Leon Kellner, Restoring Shakespeare (London, 1925), pp. 131–132.

⁵⁴ In Othello the form is usually plural.

⁵⁵ Cf. 3.3.410.

⁵⁶ Generic use? Cf. 1.3.419, tare and eares.

⁵⁷ H. H. Furness, op. cit., p. 265, makes no collation at this point.

⁵⁸ See Furness, op. cit., 14.—This variant is omitted in his collations.

⁵⁹ Furness' copy of F could not have been the same as Sir Sidney Lee's.

⁶⁰ Originally, I think, “O God, Iago. …” Note the word-substitute in F and capitalization in Q.

⁶¹ Four lines (5.2.188–93) may possibly be a printer's omission.

⁶² Three lines may possibly be intrusions: 1.3.45; 2.2.308–10.

⁶³ See note 5.

⁶⁴ See note 2.

⁶⁵ See Chambers, op. cit., i, 460.

⁶⁶ See Chambers, op. cit., i, 459; also Furness, op. cit., p. 339 ff.

⁶⁷ See note 8.

⁶⁸ In contrast to this view, compare the many conflicting theories that indicate a general disagreement among scholars: Q 1 may be (1) an unfaithful transcript made for the nonce or a stolen version (Chambers, op. cit., i, 162 and 460; and F. G. Fleay, Shakespeare Manual (London, 1873, p. 63); (2) a privately-owned presentation copy (Chambers, op. cit., i, 162, 460); (3) an actual promptbook or allowed MS. (Rhodes, op. cit., p. 31 ff.; Wilson et al., op. cit., p. 68); (4) a prompt copy sold by the company with reservations for the F; etc.

⁶⁹ Both Nicholas Okes and the Jaggards seem to have been reliable and popular.

⁷⁰ E.g., Chambers, op. cit., i, 459–560.

⁷¹ See note 5.

⁷² See R. B. McKerrow, Bibliography (Oxford, 1927), p. 9 ff.: The length of lines of type often conditioned spelling, punctuation, and completeness of texts.

⁷³ See the Q edition of Troilus and Cressida, 2.3.59 f., for an example of a line omitted by the compositor because two sentences began with “Patroclus is a foole.”

⁷⁴ See Philaster, Q 1 (1620), 1.2.177, for an example of an omitted line the trace of which remains in the catch-word at bottom of preceding page.

⁷⁵ The Elizabethan printer could not always prevent mistakes, especially when confronted by illegible penmanship. Being a joint-owner with the publisher, as was usually the case, he may have felt that he could approach the copy with some degree of freedom. Moreover, as business propositions, plays were not considered as lucrative as other printings, and were often executed hastily, during a revival. “Variant phrases” probably result from the fact that the compositor trusted to his memory many times instead of meticulously following copy, or the fact that his mind travelled faster than his fingers. In rapid work, there was always a temptation, when one had accidentally strayed from the manuscript, to adjust the remainder of the line as well as possible. Possible exceptions in Othello are: 1.3.246; 1.3.265; 1.3.288; 2.1.75; 2.1.114; 3.3.321; 3.3.346; 4.1.138; and 5.1.42. See W. W. Greg, ed., Massinger's The Parliament of Love (Malone Soc. Reprint, 1928), xiv, for attribution of such slips to a transcriber. The Second Maiden's Tragedy (Malone Soc. Reprint, 1909), probably a play of the King's Men, shows several modifications of phrases by a “special hand.” Both the F and Q of Othello may also have submitted to a few touches of this sort. See, however, R. B. McKerrow, op. cit., p. 252 ff.

⁷⁶ Final “s” is easily dismissed. See note 53.

⁷⁷ The minim letters (m, n, u, i, c, v, r, w, a) are responsible for most of the misreadings. See Kellner, op. cit., p. xi; J. D. Wilson, “The Second Quarto of Hamlet,” Essays and Studies, x, 36 ff.; A. W. Pollard et al., Shakespeare's Hand in the Play of “Sir Thomas More” (Cambridge, 1923), 15 ff. A few variants (as the one involving “g”) can be explained more plausibly by “printers' psychology.” E.g., “changes and chances” is a common idiom in a Communion prayer found in all editions of the Prayerbook. “Foul case” may operate in several instances.

⁷⁸ Perhaps a sophistication.—See “vds pitty,” 4.3.84.

⁷⁹ Study these in their context.

⁸⁰ See Kellner, op. cit., pp. 29, 122 ff.—These include especially the tilda. The “th” forms were also probably abbreviated in MSS., if one may judge from the number of variants of this sort. (In the case of you-your items, however, the variation is probably a mere omission or addition by the compositor.)

⁸¹ That is, faulty memory—retaining the sound rather than the word. This does not refer to composition by dictation.

⁸² Probably the printer desired to improve in some cases what seemed to him redundancy, etc.: Cf. 3.3.514: F, “Oh blood, blood, blood”; Q, “O blood, Iago, blood.” Also 5.2.313: F, “Alas, I die;” Q, “I die, I die;” etc.

⁸³ These seem to be associated with closing up gaps in the text made by the removal of cuts and oaths, etc.

⁸⁴ The missing passages in Q were evidently not designed to diminish the number of actors necessary for performance and thus adapt the play to a smaller troupe of provincial players.

⁸⁵ Walkley's exact relationship with the syndicate must yet be determined. It seems improbable that he obtained the printing rights in Othello from the folio publishers, although he may have been friendly to Blount personally. (See entry in Arber's Transcript, iii, under date of 7 August, 1618.)

⁸⁶ See A. W. Pollard, The Foundations of Shakespeare's Text, (Annual Shakespeare Lecture) (London, 1923), pp. 7–8: “From the notes and stage-directions which occur in some of the printed quartos there is a high probability that these were printed from prompt copies, and if what happened with other plays by other playwrights is any guide … were probably in his [Shakespeare's] autograph.” It was dangerous to copy plays, and the approved MS. might conveniently receive publication privileges without special authority. For a like attitude, see also R. Crompton Rhodes, op. cit., 107: Q Othello is called a “promptbook”; p. 31: He suggests that in the absence of any authorization for printing in the Stationers' Register, it might have been the “allowed book” itself.

⁸⁷ See note 7.

⁸⁸ See J. Dover Wilson, ed., Twelfth Night, New Camb. Shak., (London, 1930), 90. Like T.N., F. may have been printed from a careful transcript of the original, and the Q from Shakespeare's none-too-clear autograph, which seems to have puzzled contemporary compositors. Such a postulate would account for some of the Q misreadings of phrases which E. K. Chambers (op. cit., i, 460) thinks indicative of “perversion,” and at the same time explain F sophistication, and the usual errors apparent in transcripts. It is quite reasonable that a capable scribe who knew the play should produce better readings at certain points than would be possible for an average printer struggling with the original MS. Like The Second Maiden's Tragedy (Egerton MS. 1994) Q 1 bears all the signs of a prompt copy. The F provides only one superior stage direction (5.2.1.). See also note 75.