IV. Presentation of Evidence
The analysis of individual quires was based on evidence from several
sources:
1. Skeleton-formes and center rules. Appendix A
summarizes information about the components of the two skeleton-formes
employed in Section 2, rules being identified by arbitrarily chosen arabic
numerals and running-titles by arbitrarily chosen Roman numerals. The four
rules which enclose the page are referred to as the "Top Box," the "Bottom
Box," the "Left Box," and the "Right Box." The "Head Rule" separates the
running-title from the text. "HT" means head-title; head-titles appear
instead of running-titles on pages upon which plays commence, and they do
not recur. Running-titles were, of course, reset for each new play, but
because the
The of the old title was usually retained, the
numeral borne by the old describes the reset title as well. The listing is by
formes, so that, considering forme A1:4
v, one sees
indicated for page
A1 Rule 1 as the Top Box, Rule 4 as the Bottom Box, Rule 5 as the Left
Box, and so on; and for page A4
v Rule 7 as the Top Box,
Rule 9 as
the Bottom Box, Rule 10 as the Left Box, and so on. It was convenient to
include a listing of center rules here, although
they are not, properly speaking, parts of the skeleton-formes.
2. Identified types and rules. Although not included
here,
tables were prepared in which were listed by an identifying number all
recurring types and rules not a part of the skeleton-forme (excluding center
rules) and their locations by page, column, and line. A total of 562 types
and 37 independent rules were found to recur, some as few as two times,
some as many as eighteen — that is, in nearly every quire and
sometimes
twice within a single quire.[24]
3. Graphs and supporting lists. For each quire of
Section
2 except the first a graph was prepared to show the sources within the Folio
of the recognizable types which reappear within the quire and consequently
the case or cases from which various parts of the quire were set. The basic
idea of such an array was Hinman's (as was the term "graph" to name it),
but these graphs differ in a number of particulars from his because of
several technical differences between Jaggard's and Wilson's work and
because of the different formats of the two books, the Shakespeare Folio
being in sixes and the Beaumont and Fletcher Folio in fours. The identity
of the types and rules represented in each graph was indicated in a
supporting list.
The graph for Quire G is fairly typical and may serve as an example.
Before it was prepared, the evidence relating to presswork was considered.
Skeleton I imposed G2v:3 and G1v:4;
Skeleton II imposed
G2:3v and G1:4v. In Skeleton I Rule 10
bends left at 16.2 cm.
(from the top) on G1v and subsequently but not on
G2v, showing
that G2v:3 was machined before G1v:4.
In Skeleton II Rule 15 is
turned on G1, Rule 17 bends left at 23.7 cm. on G1 and H1 but not on G2,
Rule 18 bends slightly right at 2.9 cm. on G1 and H1 but not on G2 (from
the left or top, as appropriate), all of which indicates that
G2:3v was
run before G1:4v. G1 and G3, as will be shown in a
moment, have
types in common. Thus the order of printing was probably:
Skeleton: |
I |
II |
I |
II |
Forme: |
2v:3 |
2:3v
|
1v:4 |
1:4v
|
By this means an indication was obtained of the probable order of
composition of the pages of the quire and hence a clue to the proper
arrangement of the material to be included in the graph.
Because the unit of distribution and sometimes of composition seems
to have been the column, the graph was organized according to columns,
the horizontal headings indicating columns of Quire G and the vertical
headings indicating the sources, by columns, of the recognizable types
found in Quire G. In the body of the graph one sees on line 5, for instance,
that types previously observed in F3a are found in three columns of G
—
two in G3va, four in G3vb, and two in
G4a. Just which types these
are is revealed in a supporting list, omitted here. Lines 1 through 19 of the
graph for Quire G display what may be thought of as the primary
typographical evidence, types from material undistributed when the
composition of Quire G began. There are two exceptions.
F3va and
F3vb (lines 1 and 2) were distributed before Quire F was
completely
composed; their types reappear in F1b, the last column of Compositor A's
stint in that quire. That other types from these sources were found
in Quire G is of considerable significance because of the assurance they
provide that the parts of Quire G containing them were set from the same
case as the part of Quire F already attributed to Compositor A. The fact
that F3va and F3vb were distributed
before work started on Quire
G is indicated by the notation (d).
The linkage seen here between a part of Quire F and parts of Quire
G operates on a slightly different basis throughout Quire G.
F1v types
(lines 3 and 4) are found in conjunction with F3v types in
G3a but by
themselves in G3b. The inference is clear, however, that
G3b was set from the same case as F1b and G3a, the case into which
F3
v and F1
v types were distributed. The
conjunction of F1
va
types with F3 types (lines 5 and 6) in G3
vb and G4a
shows that F3 was
also distributed into this case and that G3
vb and G4a, and
by extension
G3
va, were set from it. And so the linkage continues, the
important
point being that the types represented on the graph fall into two distinct
clusters, the one incorporating types listed on lines 1 through 9 and
testifying that G3, G3
v, G4, and G1 were set from one
case (designated
Case A because it was the case from which Compositor A set his part of
Quire F and because, as shall be shown in a moment, these pages of G are
characterized by Compositor A's spellings) and the other incorporating
types listed on lines 10 through 19 and testifying that G2
v,
G2,
G1
v, and G4
v were set from another case
(designated Case
B).
The clusters, however, are not entirely distinct: one
F1vb type
(line 4) is found in G1va and one F1a type (line 7) is
found in
G4vb. According to the graph, F1vb and
F1a were distributed into
Case A but G1va and G4vb were set from
Case B, and these two
types in theory have no business being where they are. Both are anomalous,
having actually made their way into Case B through an accident or having
apparently done so because of an error in identification, and they are not
the only types represented that have gone astray. F4vb
(line 18) was,
according to evidence to be discussed shortly, distributed before the setting
of G1v, but one of its types appears earlier, on G2a, in the
right cluster
but at the wrong time. Similarly, G3a (line 19) was apparently not
distributed until after the composition of Quire H was underway, but one
of its types appears in G4va. Such anomalies, as it has
been pointed
out, are more the rule than the exception, and since many
are inexplicable no special effort was made to account for them. The chance
of one's being thrown off by their appearance is always present but usually
of little concern, for, as is the case in Quire G, the numerical weight of the
evidence forces a certain conclusion, and anomalies can be recognized as
such by their small number and their lack of accord. Small numbers,
however, do not always signify stray types. There is only one F4b type to
mark the distribution of that column at G2b (line 16), yet here, because F4a
was clearly distributed at this point, the inference is that the single F4b type
gives quite genuine testimony of distribution.
The order in which the columns of Quire G are listed at the head of
the graph is the order of composition from each case as indicated by the
order of printing and the order of distribution. It is to the second
of these matters that the numerals entered in each line to the right of the
distributed-column designation have relevance. A "1" indicates that the
particular column was a part of the first forme of its quire to be machined,
a "2" that it was a part of the second forme, and so on. One sees that all
the columns of Quire F distributed into Case A were distributed in the order
of their machining and this is the usual expectation; however, the
distributions made into Case B were not so regular. First comes a
previously undistributed column of Quire E (E1b, line 10), then a page of
the first forme of Quire F (F2a, line 11, and F2b, line 12), but then a page
of the third forme of Quire F (F2
v, lines 13 and 14)
before a page of
the second (F4, lines 15 and 16). As has been noted, this is not very
unusual, for the compositor would have been under no compulsion to
distribute F4 before F2
v provided that both were equally
available, and
sometimes, perhaps because the later material
contained certain sorts which he needed, it may have been to his advantage
to reverse the usual order. In this instance, one supposes that
F2
v was
first distributed because it was a full page and the compositor was about to
set a full page, G2, and the distribution of F4 followed because it was a
part page. The only occasions upon which such irregularities in the order
of distribution become of more than casual interest are those which signal
a delay in composition or an error in one's idea of the order of composition
as indicated by the order of printing, as would be the case if type from the
fourth forme of Quire F appeared in what one supposed to be the first
column of Quire G to be set. Anomalous types also serve in this way as
indicators. However aberrant it may be, the one F4
vb type
on G2a, if
correctly identified, would indicate a delay in composition if other evidence
showed G2a to be the first rather than the third column of Quire G to be set
from Case B.
Because latent types are less reliable than the others, they are treated
as secondary evidence and given separate listing. Lines 20 through 22 show
latent types previously found in material known to have been distributed
into Case A, and lines 23 through 26 latent types previously found in
material known to have been distributed into Case B (hence the "A" and
"B" designations to the right of the indications of source). When
convenient, pages rather than columns are given as sources; thus on line 20
types from E2a and E2b are listed, because both of these columns were
distributed into Case A during the composition of Quire F. There are in
Quire G fewer anomalies among the latent types than were often
encountered — only two, in fact. The two E1v (A)
types which
appear on G2 should not be there,
as other evidence shows G2 to have been set from Case B. They probably
do appear on G2 aberrantly because they were used in
F2
v, a page set
from Case A but distributed into Case B, where they escaped notice.
Failure to find types which were passed from one case to the other is the
probable cause of most anomalies among the latents in Section 2 (that is,
they are not actually latent in that they have lain unused during at least one
quire's composition, but only seem so). Because proper identification of the
immediate source of all types used as evidence is important, latents
originating more than two quires earlier than the quire under consideration
were not listed. Thus types noticed first in Quires A, B, C, or D which
reappear in G are not shown on the graph. The reappearance of rules and
act and scene heads has a bearing on the time of distribution, but because
they do not seem to be related to case they are not noted among the latent
types. None, in any event, reappears in
Quire G.
4. Spelling charts. By "spelling" is meant not only the
usual sense of the term but all characteristics, including such features as
abbreviations, spacing, and so on, which serve to distinguish the work of
one compositor from that of another. A spelling chart was prepared for
each quire and was represented with the graph for the same quire. A basic
list of variants was tested throughout Section 2; the absence from any chart
of one of these forms indicates that it does not occur in the quire. The basic
variants are
A Forms
|
B Forms
|
Remarks
|
again |
agen |
"againe" not distinctive |
— |
bin |
"been (e)" not distinctive |
heart(ily) |
hart(ily) |
B tolerates "heart" |
hour(e) |
hower/howre |
B tolerates "hour(e)" |
money |
mony |
B tolerates "money" |
near(e) |
neer(e) |
A tolerates "neere" and B has only slight preference |
murther |
— |
"murder" not distinctive |
only |
onely |
— |
peice/peece |
"piece" not distinctive |
— |
pre'thee |
"prethee" not distinctive |
— |
stirr |
"stir(re)" not distinctive |
sweet |
sweete |
B tolerates "sweet" |
warre |
warr |
A Forms
|
B Forms
|
Remarks
|
short-form contractions |
long-form contractions |
e.g., "wee'l", "we'll", "we'le", "hee'l", "he'l", "shee'l', etc as
against "weele", "weel'e", "weell", "shee'll", etc. Chart rubrics "short
pro." and "long pro." |
periods lacking after numerals preceding nouns |
periods used |
e.g., "2 Merchant" as against "2. Merchant." Stage directions and
speech-prefixes only; not distinctive in text. Chart rubrics "2 noun" and "2.
noun" ("2" indicating any numeral). A tolerates "2. noun." |
|
S.D.'s with internal periods |
e.g., Enter Cozen. his Wife.
[E3vb].
Normal stage directions not distinctive. Chart rubric "odd s.d." |
In addition, there are a few variants in nearly every play which are peculiar
to that play alone. They are
In The Custome of the Countrey: |
Manuel |
Mannuel(l) |
Duart |
Duarte |
Arn. |
Ar. |
speech-prefix |
In The Noble Gentleman: |
Cous. |
Co. |
speech-prefix |
Duch. |
Dutch. |
speech-prefix |
In The Captaine: |
Fath. |
Fa. |
speech-prefix |
scene heads |
scene heads |
i.e., with reference to the |
set close |
set open |
amount of white space above and below the head |
In Beggars Bush: |
Florez |
Floriz |
Hemskirk(e) |
Hemskir(i)ck |
In The False One: |
Ægypt |
Egypt |
In the case of some variants, particularly speech-prefixes and
stage-directions, the number of occurrences does not matter, and the fact
of occurrence was indicated on charts only by "x." Spellings which occur
in full lines are marked with an asterisk; such a notation as "3**" means
that two of the three spellings recorded were found in full lines.
As the listing indicates, two more-or-less distinct patterns were
discerned. The validity of these patterns will be discussed under
"Conclusions"; it need be remarked here only that the function of the
spelling charts is to permit identification of the compositors working at the
cases previously indicated by typographical evidence. Returning
to Quire G, one may compare the graph with the spelling chart to see that
B-forms cluster in the pages set from Case B and the A-forms cluster,
somewhat less neatly, in those set from Case A, leading to the conclusion
that Compositor B set the former and Compositor A the latter.
5. Tables of substituted types. In most quires
substitutions
were made for certain types whose numbers were unequal to the demands
of the material being composed. As has been mentioned, substitutions do
not always provide very reliable evidence, but sometimes their testimony
allows one to adjust or confirm inferences drawn from other evidence. In
Quire G, F's were substituted for F's (because many
F's were needed for the speech-prefixes of
Franke,
Father, Fabricio, and Fredericke)
and
VV's for W's. It happens that the shortages occurred only in the material
set by Compositor A, in the following pattern, in which the numbers in
brackets represent the types returned to the case by distribution. No attempt
is made here to show the order in the column in which one finds the regular
and the substituted type:
Distributed: |
[F1v] |
|
|
[F3] |
|
|
|
[F1] |
|
|
[G3b] |
|
|
G3a |
G3b |
|
G3va |
G3vb |
G4a |
|
G4b |
G1a |
|
G1b |
F/F: |
[0] |
7/0 |
10/0 |
[1] |
7/0 |
6/2 |
1/19 |
[0] |
1/16 |
0/5 |
[10] |
8/1 |
W/VV: |
[11] |
9/0 |
8/0 |
[11] |
9/0 |
— |
9/0 |
[3] |
4/6 |
3/7 |
[8] |
3/0 |
Evidently A's case contained only slightly more than thirty
F's;
these were steadily used until at G3
vb the substitution of
F in
speech-prefixes commenced, a few
F's being held in reserve
for
such special uses as the composition of a stage-direction in G4a and a song
in G4a and G4b. Because only one
F was returned to the case
by the distribution of the type of Quire F, the supply remained low until it
was replenished at G1b by the distribution of G3b. To the W's in
Compositor A's case when the composition of Quire G began, the
distribution of F-formes added twenty-five pieces during the composition of
G3, G3
v, and G4a, but thirty-nine were used by the point
at mid-G4b
where VV's were introduced. The substituted character was used through
G4b and to a point near the foot of G1a, where three W's seem to have
been discovered or obtained from G3b, which provided enough of this letter
to complete G1b without further substitution. Evidence from substitutions,
as
far as it goes, thus supports the conclusions previously drawn about the
composition of Quire G, which may be summarized as follows: