Merchant of Venice (1923) Yale/Appendix C
APPENDIX C
The Text of the Present Edition
The text of the present volume is, by permission, based upon that of the Oxford Shakespeare, compared with the First Folio and Quarto texts. The following changes from the Oxford text have been made:
1. The stage directions are those of the First Folio, necessary additional words being inserted in square brackets.
2. The punctuation has been occasionally altered, and the spelling of a few words normalized; e.g., villainy (villany), nobody (no body), everywhere (every where).
3. The following alterations of text have been introduced, usually in deference to the authority of the genuine (Heyes) Quarto of 1600 (Q) and the First Folio (F). Readings of the present edition precede and those of Craig (Oxford) follow the colon:
I. iii. 80 eanlings which (QF): eanlings that
113 spit: spet (QF). Cf. II. vii. 45
144 Bass. (QF): Ant.
162 dealings (QF): dealing (later Folios)
II. ii. 28 incarnation (QF): incarnal (spurious quarto)
103 phill-horse (QF): thill-horse (Theobald)
125 farthest (QF): very furthest
II. ix. 4 stand (QF): stands (misprint?)
III. i. 50 was used (QF): used (Rowe)
90 there, there, there, there! (QF): there there, there!
III. ii. 245 steals (QF): steal (Pope)
III. iv. 53 tranect (QF): traject (Rowe)
IV. 1. 21 strange apparent (QF): strange-apparent (Walker)
56 woollen (QF): wauling (Capell)
279 but (Q): not (F)
373 unto (QF): into (misprint?)
V. i. 185 hope, which (QF): hope, that
236 let not me (QF): let me not
302 Whether (QF): Whe'r