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.
