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Notes
Although Compositor I would then have done most to obliterate this feature of the copy, it may be significant that he got caught out once by an -ie on the first page he set. From the fact that Compositor II twice set Lady, and from the practically exclusive -y in his -ly and very forms, on the other hand, one might conclude that the state of the copy, while there may have been a certain preponderance of -ie endings, is yet more truly represented by the random mixture of -y/ie forms on Compositor III's and Compositor IV's pages than by Compositor II's strong -ie preference.
The test words and their occurrences are:
- Countrey D1v, D4(3x), H1 / Countrie K2v
- pitty E2, H1v / pittie H3v (2x), I1v
- thirty F4 / thirtie I2
- twenty F4v, G1 / twentie H4v, I4, K2
- beauty E2, E3v / beautie H3v (2x)
E. A. J. Honigmann's tracing of a second compositor in Q1 of King Lear appears to be a case similar to ours. (E. A. J. Honigmann, "Spelling Tests and the First Quarto of King Lear," The Library, 5th ser., XX [1965], 310-315.) Honigmann reflects upon the possibility of a gradual re-assertion of preferential spellings, after an initial opening to the influence of copy, in the work of a compositor (in which case the compositors of King Lear Q1 would again be reduced to one); and he speculatively puts forward a "style of the house" and/or the mobility of journeymen as reasons for the evasive nature of compositorial habits. In A King and No King, too, one would, if only for the sake of greater simplicity, tend to suspect Compositors I, II, and III of being just one man, after all, were it not for the clear bibliographical divisions of their stints. But, while on the basis of our tests their presence is asserted, their number is yet astonishing. Did John Beale then perhaps employ a sizable crew of journeymen? And did he consequently — in view of the remarkable uniformity of composition — rigorously enforce a housestyle? We simply do not know; and to speculate in this direction would merely obscure the present issue, as from an analysis of this single quarto we cannot even attempt to find an answer to such questions, whereas we are able from it to tentatively explore the implications of the facts apparent about the quarto's composition and printing.
We might, of course, be tempted to say that the setting, at least, was 'continuous' in relation to the use and re-use of type from the one case, but even such an assumption would be hazardous as long as proof was lacking that the case in question was used solely on this job for as long as the quarto was printing.
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