I Press-Variants in The White Devil (1623)
Copies: BM1 (British Museum 840.c.37, wants sig.
A), BM2
(British Museum C.34.e.18), BM3 (British Museum
Ashley 2205),
D1 (Victoria and Albert Museum Dyce 10491),
D2 (Victoria and
Albert Museum Dyce 10491(2), wants A1), E (Eton College), F
(Victoria and Albert Museum Forster 9334), O (Bodleian Library
Mal.216(6)); Fl (Folger Shakespeare Library), H (Harvard
University), Hn1 (Henry E. Huntington Library 79606),
Hn2
(Henry E. Huntington Library 136106), I (University of Illinois,
cropped), T (University of Texas), Y (Yale University).
Sheet A, inner forme.
| A2. |
line 11 |
Rhonoas |
Rhoncos |
|
17 |
critticcall
|
critticall
|
Sheet B, inner forme.
| B1v. |
I.i.45 |
sweet |
such |
| B2. |
I.ii.14 |
Zawche
|
Zanche
|
|
I.ii.22 |
sotiety |
satiety |
| B3v. |
I.ii.138 |
couer |
couerd |
|
I.ii.139 |
your |
yon |
Sheet D, outer forme.
| D1. |
II.i.164 |
come |
am |
|
II.i.176-7 |
complaine vnto |
complaine / Vnto |
| D2v. |
II.i.279 |
speake, |
speake. |
|
II.i.296 |
FLAM. |
FLAM. |
|
II.i.305 |
and |
& |
|
II.i.305-6 |
le- / than |
loth- / some |
| D3. |
II.i.308 |
the |
thee |
|
II.i.310 |
[omit] |
DOC. Sir I shall. |
|
II.i.311 |
Camillo, |
Camillo?
|
| D4v. |
II.ii.SD. |
spectacles, which couers / their eyes and noses, of
glasse,
|
spectacles of glasse, / which couer their eyes and
noses,
|
|
II.ii.SD. |
lighs
|
with lights
|
|
II.ii.SD. |
expresse
|
exprest
|
Sheet F, inner forme.
| F1v. |
III.ii.247 |
monthes, |
monthes |
|
III.ii.256 |
repetion |
repetition |
| F2. |
III.ii.273 |
baud |
baud. |
|
III.ii.276 |
couertites |
conuertites |
| F4. |
III.iii.86 |
grine rouge |
gue |
|
III.iii.91 |
liues |
liues. |
Sheet G, inner forme.
| G1v. |
IV.i.41 |
I'le |
I will |
|
IV.i.46-7 |
[omit] |
presents / Fran. with a booke
|
| G2. |
IV.i.82 |
and |
one |
|
IV.i.93 |
life |
list |
|
IV.i.96 |
so |
so in |
|
IV.i.97 |
be |
lye |
|
IV.i.104 |
Looke |
Call |
|
IV.i.106 |
---d'foot |
---ha'te |
| G3v. |
IV.ii.46 |
What? |
That? |
|
IV.ii.49 |
of |
off |
|
IV.ii.51 |
No |
In |
|
IV.ii.70 |
Sir |
O Sir |
| G4. |
IV.ii.86 |
thought on |
louely |
|
IV.ii.94 |
Well |
Wee'l |
|
IV.ii.97 |
ee'ld |
Yee'ld |
|
IV.ii.108 |
ten |
tow |
Sheet H, outer forme.
| H1. |
IV.ii.158 |
could |
would |
| H2v. |
IV.iii.18-9 |
Lodowicke? / LOD. |
Lodowicke? LOD. |
|
Catchword |
OMNES. |
SER.[1]
|
| H3. |
IV.iii.62-3 |
[omit] |
MON. Concedimus vobis Apostolicam benedictionem &
remissionem / (peccatorem
|
|
IV.iii.64 |
MON. My |
My |
|
IV.iii.67 |
state |
seate |
|
IV.iii.81-2 |
[omit] |
Exit Fran. Enter / Monticelso.
|
|
IV.iii.83 |
Why |
MON. Why |
Sheet I, outer forme.
| I3. |
V.i.200 |
10 |
two |
Sheet K, outer forme.
| K2v. |
V.iii.150 |
Brachiano. douico
|
Brachiano. | douico
|
|
V.iii.150 |
Gasparao or
|
Gasparo
|
| K3. |
V.iii.170 |
cursed |
cursed,[2]
|
|
V.iii.190 |
as |
has |
| K4v. |
V.iv.5 |
dottrles |
dottrels |
|
V.iv.24 |
chullice |
cullice |
|
V.iv.31 |
thuy |
they |
Sheet K, inner forme.
| K1v. |
V.iii.80 |
preseuted
|
presented
|
|
Margin |
apeare. |
ap- / peare so. |
| K2. |
Margin[3]
|
Gasparoe
|
Gasparo
|
| K3v. |
V.iii.241 |
to it |
to't |
| K4. |
V.iii.274 |
Euter
|
Enter
|
Sheet L, outer forme.
| L3. |
V.vi.32 |
theee |
thee |
Sheet M, inner forme.
| M1v. |
V.vi.224 |
treue |
treu |
true |
THE STATE OF THE COPIES[4]
|
BM1
|
BM2
|
BM3
|
D1
|
D2
|
E |
F |
O |
Fl |
H |
Hn1
|
Hn2
|
I |
T |
Y |
| A inner. |
- |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| B inner. |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
| D outer. |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
| F inner. |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| G inner. |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
| H outer. |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
| I outer. |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
| K outer. |
1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
| K inner. |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
| L outer. |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
| M inner. |
1 |
3 |
3 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
The order in which I have placed some of these states may be
questioned. For the outer forme of sheet H, it is conceivable that
the Latin benediction was cut out by a printing-house 'editor',
that 'state' was substituted for the technically correct, but
little known, 'seate', and that the entry for Monticelso was
omitted on the mistaken notion that this character remained on the
stage after his speech ending line 73. The fact that only three out
of fifteen copies are in the state which I believe to be the
corrected one must also raise a doubt about the order I have given.
But the arrangement of the type on H2v and 3 clarifies the
issue. First, the speech prefix for the benediction is indented
considerably less than the others on H3, which are all equidistant
from the left of the body of the type even when there is a run-on
for line 51. Secondly, if the benediction had been removed, the
space on the page could easily have been filled up by re-arranging
line 50 or line 51 as two
lines, or, more simply still, by allowing a line space before the
centralized direction 'Enter Monticelso in state'; there
would have been no need to move line 48 to H2v and alter
the
catchword. On the other hand, if the benediction was added, as I
believe, then line 48 would have to be moved to make room,
for no two consecutive lines on H3 are short enough to be
re-arranged as one. It therefore seems preferable to consider the
states in the order I have given, and to presume that either the
surviving copies of the quarto give a false impression of the
proportion of corrected to uncorrected copies, or else that the
changes were made very late in the printing of this forme.
The second state of the outer forme of sheet I survives in only
four of the copies I have collated, but 'two' seems more suitable
than '10' because Webster alludes in this passage to the story of
Eteocles and Polynices whose
bodies when burnt gave a flame which parted in
two
directions.
[5] Moreover my order is
supported by a correction of 'ten' to 'tow' (for 'two') on G4, the
order of the states of the inner forme of this sheet being
indicated by the correction of 'life' to 'list', 'Well' to 'Wee'l',
and, possibly, 'Sir' to 'O Sir'.
The order in which I have arranged the states of the inner forme
of sheet M is dictated by the consideration that if 'true' had
first been printed as 'treu', the corrector would not have taken
another 'e' from the case to put matters right but would
merely have transposed the 'e' and 'u'. It
seems
more
probable that finding the erroneous 'treue' he at first removed the
wrong 'e' and then, discovering his error, transposed.
Most of the press-variants in The White Devil can be
readily explained as the simple correction of graphic or
compositor's errors, but a considerable number of the errors could
not have been detected by reading the proofsheets alone. For the
correction of the outer forme of sheet D, the inner of G, the outer
of H, and the inner of K either the copy or the author himself must
have been consulted. The variants suggesting that Webster may have
visited the press are confined to G inner and H outer: they are the
change of 'Looke' to 'Call' (G2), of 'thought on' to 'louely' (G4),
the addition of the Latin benediction (H3), and the addition of an
entry for Monticelso with a consequent change of speech direction
(H3). The large proportion of uncorrected copies for H outer and I
outer suggests that normal proofing was interrupted at this point.
The evidence is not, perhaps, considerable enough to make it
certain that Webster visited the press, but it will be seen that
such a visit
would correspond to his probable practice for the other two
plays.
The running-titles in this quarto are so similar to each other
that it is very difficult to trace the press-work in detail. It is,
however, reasonably certain that two skeleton-formes were used.
