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THE MOST RECENT STUDY OF THE PRINTING of the controversial "Pied Bull" quarto of Lear remarks that the application of a spelling test to determine the number of compositors employed remains a desideratum.[1] Following this suggestion, I have examined the text of the "Pied Bull" Lear and two other play quartos printed by Nicholas Okes, in an attempt to prove, if possible, the number of compositors employed.[2] The technique I use was first developed by Professor Charlton Hinman.[3] It consists, in brief, of identifying the orthographic habits and peculiarities of individual compositors. In addition to supplying three good examples of the reliability of Professor Hinman's test,[4] I think that I can show conclusively that only one compositor was engaged in the production of Lear.
In order to prove that the "Pied Bull" Lear is the work of a single compositor, it is first necessary to examine two other dramatic quartos printed by Nicholas Okes. The information thereby obtained concerning the spelling habits of the compositors in the Okes shop can then be applied to the Lear quarto.
In 1612, four years after he printed the Lear quarto, Nicholas Okes printed the first quarto of John Webster's The White Devil. An examination of this quarto shows that two compositors were employed. One compositor (whom I designate B) never uses the apostrophe in the form Ile, although he regularly uses it in such forms as He'd, We've, and the like. In addition to this peculiar use of the apostrophe, Compositor B frequently uses ie for final y. The other compositor (whom I designate A) generally uses the apostrophe in the form I'le and, with certain exceptions mentioned below, never uses ie for final y. Both compositors invariably spell certain words with a final y. These words, which are not included in the tabulations because they are non-significant, are: any, away, lay, may, many, pray, say, way, and why. The appearance of Ile/I'le and final y/ie forms is given in the following chart.[5]
The tabulation shows that the alternation of the two compositors was not regular. Beginning with B1, Compositor A set B1, B1v, C1-F2v, G1-G2v, H2, H2v, H4, H4v, I3, I3v, I4v, K1, K3v-K4v, L3-M2v. The quarto consists of 88 pages, 87 of which contain letterpress (the verso of the title page is blank). Of these, Compositor A set 56 pages. The remaining 31 pages were set by Compositor B.[6]
In 1609, one year later than the "Pied Bull" Lear, Nicholas Okes printed the first and only quarto of Robert Armin's The History of the Two Maids of More-clacke. An examination of the text of this quarto shows that, as with The White Devil, two compositors were engaged. The two compositors, moreover, are the same two whose work has been identified in the Webster quarto. The following chart shows the occurrence of the significant forms by which their identity can be ascertained.[7]
In The Merry Maids of More-clacke, composing started with A1.[8] Compositor B set the following pages: A1, A2v, A3, B1-B2v, C1-C2v, D1-D3, E1-E2v, F1-F2v, G1-G2v, H1-H3, H4v-I2v. The title-page was probably set by B. The remaining 31 pages (out of a total of 70) were composed by A. The two compositors generally alternated after setting four type-pages, and the evidence of this alternation is, in the main, quite clear.[9]
By combining the evidence obtained from The White Devil and The Two Maids, and tabulating this evidence in percentages, the spelling habits of the two compositors can be summarized as follows:
| I'le | Ile | y | ie | do | doe | |
| Compositor A | 63% | 27% | 99% | 1% | 90% | 10% |
| Compositor B | 0 | 100% | 60% | 40% | 20% | 80% |
Turning now to the "Pied Bull" Lear quarto, we find that only one compositor was engaged in setting the book, and that this compositor is the Compositor B of The White Devil and The Two Maids of More-clacke. A tabulation of the characteristic forms upon which this spelling test is based is given below.
The characteristics that distinguish Compositor B are at once apparent: the absence of the apostrophe in Ile forms, the frequent spellings in final ie, and the preponderance of doe spellings. When presented in percentage form, the figures for Lear are very close to the percentages arrived at by combining the evidence obtained from The White Devil and The Two Maids. In Lear, final ie is used 45% of the time as compared with 40%, and the doe form is used 72% of the time as compared with 80% for The White Devil and The Two Maids.
On only two pages, I believe, is the evidence inconclusive. On H4, we find seven final y's, no final ie spellings, and no Ile forms. The two doe forms suggest Compositor B but are not evidence enough upon which to assign him the work. On L4, the only significant forms appearing are seven final y's. As Compositor B has, however, set all of the other pages, it seems very likely that he also set H4 and L4.
The thirteen settings of the running-titles[10] that appear in the quarto all read The Historie of King Lear. On the strength of the ie spelling, I believe that these, like the rest of the text, were set by Compositor B.
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