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III. Problems with Spellings
The reluctance of some compositors unequivocally to identify themselves or, once identified, their obstinate refusal to persist in the habits that earlier characterized their work is a woeful reality in bibliographical analysis. In Section 1 ambiguity in the spelling evidence is a particular problem, part of which may arise from inadequacy of method. Although we are warned that all spellings in the work under investigation may be significant,[13] without a computer we cannot deal in a practical way with the complete data of three plays, and we are compelled instead to work with a sample of spellings that seem significant. If the sample is too small or if it contains the wrong words, it will yield uncertain results, and it may be that one more skilfully drawn would permit finer discriminations than can be made here. Yet the collateral evidence is not very encouraging.
Suckling's Aglaura was reprinted in octavo by Warren as a bibliographically independent part of the edition of Fragmenta Aurea of 1646.[14] The copy was the folio edition of 1638. A comparison of the two versions reveals that 1646, in addition to introducing next to no substantive changes, followed the accidentals of 1638 with considerable fidelity. There were, to be sure, some alterations in spelling: terminal -ee (in hee, mee, etc.) is sometimes reduced to -e but the copy's -ee is about as likely to be retained; terminal -ie occasionally becomes -y (especially in verie and everie) but many -ie endings were accepted; the copy's beene is pretty consistently spelled been (I count eighteen changes to been and three retentions of the form as opposed to three retentions of beene). The treatment accorded some other words (all of which may be significant in parts of Section 1) gives an idea of the character of the whole:
| Changed | Retained | |
| again | 3 | 2 |
| againe | -- | 20 |
| agen | -- | 24 |
| agin | -- | 1 |
| do-go | 7 | 1 |
| doe-goe | 1 | 132 |
| I'le-i'le | 6 | 1 |
| Ile-ile | -- | 9 |
| neare | 1 | 2 |
| neere | 2 | 7 |
| neer | -- | 1 |
| nere | 3 | -- |
Two years later Warren was again engaged upon Fragmenta Aurea, this time reprinting the non-dramatic works from a partially annotated copy of 1646.[15] His contribution to the 1648 edition included the poems as well as Suckling's letters and his Account of Religion, the first because of rhyme words and the two last because of full lines offering rather less opportunity for spelling variation than dramatic poetry. And indeed alterations in spelling are so near nil as not to
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