III
Now such links between F and Q2 or Q3 do exist in considerable
numbers in Henry V. The verbal links are as numerous as
those indicated by Dr. Alice Walker in her arguments for the use of
Q copy in other plays (Text. Pr., pp. 1-3). And the number
can be extended, for Henry V, by the latent errors, some of
which can be identified, where F has failed to correct an error
common to the quartos. Like the much more numerous QF links of
punctuation, spelling, and lineation, these are beyond the range of
coincidence, or of transcription, or indeed of any form of
transmission except F use of corrected Q copy.
The main verbal links (correct or probably correct readings are
italicised) are:-
| Q2,F |
II.iii.49 |
world Q2,F; word Q1,3 |
|
IV.i.65 |
lewer Q1,2; fewer F; lower Q3 |
|
IV.viii.3 |
toward Q2,F; towards Q1,3 |
| Q3,F |
II.i.32 |
honest Q1,2; omit Q3,F |
|
ii.177 |
ye Q1,2; you Q3,F |
|
iii.22 |
atQ1,2; on Q3,F |
|
iii.42 |
hell fire Q1,2; hell Q3,F |
|
iv.75 |
brother Q1,2; brother of Q3,F |
|
III.vi.106 |
abraided Q1,2; vpbraided Q3,F |
|
IV.iii.124 |
am Q1,2; vm Q3,F (= 'em) |
|
v.19 |
inough Q1,2; enow Q3,F |
|
vii.88 |
Cryspin, Cryspin Q1,2; Crispin
Crispianus Q3,F |
|
vii.150 |
off from his Q1,2; from's Q3; from
his F |
|
viii.50 |
as Q1,2; but as Q3,F |
|
V.i.14 |
Here a Q1,2; Heere he Q3,F |
|
i.31 |
meane time Q1,2; in the meane time Q3,F |
Here the greater number of Q3,F (as compared with Q2, F) agreements
is explained by the fact that Q3 was the main "copy," and by the
fact that Q3 varies much more widely from Q1 than does Q2. While
one or two of the links may be disputed as doubtful (
e. g.
lewer—lower—fewer), or as due to a common tendency
towards
modernization, or to a common printer, the general trend is clear
enough.
The same impression is conveyed by the stage-directions. These
furnish particularly valuable evidence. They differ from the rest
of the text in that they are independent of the memorial process of
reproduction, and are therefore most unlikely, in the ordinary
course, to agree exactly with those of a manuscript such as must
have been available for F. Excluding possible "parts," which just
might have carried some directions with them, the close agreement
of so many stage-directions in Henry V adds further weight
to the bibliographical connection between Q and F. It is fairly
obvious that many F directions have been copied or edited from
those of Q, sometimes abbreviated, and sometimes elaborated or
conflated; and where the quartos vary among themselves, F agrees
consistently with Q2 or Q3 against Q1. For example:-
| I.ii.7 |
Q Enter . . . 2. Bishops . . . (Q3 . . . two . . .) |
|
F Enter two Bishops. |
| 234 |
Q Enter the Ambassadors from France. (Q1 Thambassadors;
Q2 Th'ambassadors) |
|
F Enter Ambassadors of France. |
| II.i.79 |
Q Enter the Boy. |
|
F Enter the Boy. |
|
95 Q They draw. |
|
F Draw. |
| III.ii.1 |
Q Enter Nim, Bardolfe, Pistoll, and Boy. (and
om. Q1,2) |
|
F Enter Nim, Bardolph, Pistoll, and Boy. |
| III.ii.1 |
Q Enter Gower and Flewellen. (Q3; Enter Gower. Q1,2) |
|
F Enter Captaines, English and Welch, Gower and Fluellen. |
| IV.i.85 |
Q Enter three Souldiers. |
|
F Enter three Souldiers, Iohn Bates, Alexander
Court, and Michael Williams. |
| IV.iii.16 |
Q Enter the King. (Q2; the om. Q1,3) |
|
F Enter the King. |
| IV.viii.7 |
Q He strikes him. F Strikes him. |
| V.i.27 |
Q He strikes him. F Strikes him. |
| V.ii.1 |
Q Enter at one doore, the King of England and his
Lords. And at the
other doore, the King of France, Queene Katherine, the Duke of
Burbon, and others. |
|
F Enter at one doore, King Henry, Exeter, Bedford,
Warwicke, and
other Lords. At another, Queene Isabel, the King,
the Duke of
Bourgongne, and other French. |
