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Shakespeare On-Line -- ALL of him
Sep. 10th, 2004 02:51 pmper ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
testaclese:
You can now read scanned copies of all 93 quarto editions of his works, thanks to the British Library.
For those that don't know, most of the Quarto editions, unlike the folios, were published while he was still alive, and weren't necessarilly legal/official in any way. Many first editions were assembled from actors' memories (months or years after they last performed the show) and their que-texts (actors didn't get a full script, just their lines and the key-lines that they need to prompt them), not from any actual manuscript from the Bard himself. As such, many lines are simply wrong compared to the popular versions of the plays.
However, in a few lines, the first quarto version is oft the preferred. For example, the Folder Library's printing of R&J has a line from the 1st Quarto, "Too too, to hide her face, for her fan's the fairer of the two", rather than the official "for her fan's the fairer face". Zefferelli used the Folder version in his film in the 60s.
I certainly prefer the 1st Quarto's version of that line.
testaclese:You can now read scanned copies of all 93 quarto editions of his works, thanks to the British Library.
For those that don't know, most of the Quarto editions, unlike the folios, were published while he was still alive, and weren't necessarilly legal/official in any way. Many first editions were assembled from actors' memories (months or years after they last performed the show) and their que-texts (actors didn't get a full script, just their lines and the key-lines that they need to prompt them), not from any actual manuscript from the Bard himself. As such, many lines are simply wrong compared to the popular versions of the plays.
However, in a few lines, the first quarto version is oft the preferred. For example, the Folder Library's printing of R&J has a line from the 1st Quarto, "Too too, to hide her face, for her fan's the fairer of the two", rather than the official "for her fan's the fairer face". Zefferelli used the Folder version in his film in the 60s.
I certainly prefer the 1st Quarto's version of that line.
