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Distribution and Order
| B distributed | ----- | and set G3v(EI, free) |
| C " | {most of F2a (AI) {F5v middle b (FI) |
" G4a |
| F " | {F2b and upper a (-) {F5v upper b (-) |
" G4b(FI) |
| B " | {F5va and lower b (-) {F6 lower a and b (BI) |
" G3(AI) |
| F " | {F6 upper a (-) {F1va (DI) |
" G4va |
| C " | F1vb (-) | " G4vb(BI) |
| B " | F6va (CI) " G2v(CI) |
|
| C " | F6vb (-) | " G5(DI) |
| F " | F1 [] | " G5v(FI) |
| F " | G4b (FI) | " G2a |
| C " | G4a (-) | " G2b (BI) |
| B " | {G3va and middle b(EI) {G3b and middle a (AI) |
" G1v (EI) |
| F " | {G3 lower a (-) {G4va and middle b (BI) {G3v lower b (-) |
" G6a |
| C " | {G4v upper and lower b (-) {G3 upper a (-) {G3v upper b (-) |
" G6b(AI) |
| B " | G2va and lower b (CI) | " most of G1 (DI) |
| C " | ----- | " G1 upper b |
| F " | G5b (DI) | " G6va, upper b |
| C " | ----- | " G6v lower b and "The names of all the Actors" |
In quire G, Compositors B, C, and F co-operated in the distribution of the same wrought-off pages and columns, much as the three compositors of quire H did. Such abnormal distribution practices again raise questions about the relative order in which pages and formes were set and the extent to which different compositors worked simultaneously on different columns, pages and formes. Since none of the formes of quire G was the work of a single compositor, there was much opportunity for simultaneous composition sometimes by two workmen, sometimes by three. The two pages of forme G2v:5 may have been composed simultaneously, for each page was set by a different
Simultaneous composition of successive formes is a possibility in quire G, but not so strong a possibility as it was in quire H. Compositors B, C, and F each had a hand in the distribution of column F5vb. However, Compositors C and F were preparing to set page G4 of the first forme by distributing upper and middle F5vb, while Compositor B was readying his case to set page G3 of the second forme by distributing lower F5vb. Thus composition of the first two formes may have proceeded simultaneously, but such a conclusion is not inescapable. Perhaps Compositors C and F merely left lower F5vb for later distribution by Compositor B.
Of the method of production of quires F and G, Howard-Hill wrote: "The picture that this division of work presents of activities in Jaggard's printing-house is most unusual. It is scarcely to be conceived that the Folio would ever have been published had this been the ordinary method of working. . . . The irregular distribution of these quires arose, I suggest, not because Compositor D's practice was irregular (as Hinman thought) but because the division of setting amongst four compositors working from two cases led to unusual practices" (p. 80). The foregoing analysis has indicated that composition of quire G, at least, was divided amongst three different compositors, each at a separate case. Therefore activities in Jaggard's printing-house appear much less chaotic than Howard-Hill asserted. Instead, comparison of the methods used to produce quire G with those used to produce quire H suggests that a routine had been developed for setting by three compositors. In both quires, a single compositor set a whole page of each of the first two formes, while two compositors co-operated to set the forme-mates. Then Compositors B and C each set a full page in the third forme. Three columns of the fourth forme (almost three in quire H) were set by Compositor D in quire H and by Compositor F in quire G; the fourth column was, in each case, the work of Compositor C. The fifth forme in each quire was composed in exactly the same manner as the second forme, with Compositor B setting a full page of each forme and his fellow compositors sharing the forme-mate. Variations in the setting of the sixth formes of quires G and H
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