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IV. Presentation of Evidence

The analysis of individual quires was based on evidence from several sources:

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 F3v and F1v types were distributed. The conjunction of F1va types with F3 types (lines 5 and 6) in G3vb and G4a shows that F3 was also distributed into this case and that G3vb and G4a, and by extension G3va, 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, G3v, 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 G2v, G2, G1v, and G4v 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 (F2v, 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 F2v 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 F2v 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 F4vb 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 F2v, 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 G3vb 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, G3v, 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: