 | |  |
II
In preparing for the printer a revised copy of the 1778 variorum, Reed's task as editor involved three primary duties: he had to do a number of housekeeping chores, which he performed diligently; he had to select new notes, either pasting them in the margins or transcribing them; and he had the opportunity to make changes in the text. He also of course had the responsibility of seeing the edition through the press. In the following description of Reed's work in preparing the 1785 edition, I will limit myself to the thirty plays in the printer's copy, although I also have collated its 204 marked textual changes against the printed copy of the 1785 edition, Malone's of 1790, and Steevens' of 1793. What emerges is the measurable advance which the 1785 edition made over its predecessors.
The housekeeping of the edition gave Reed many opportunities to demonstrate his diligence. In accord with the signature on the will, the spelling of Shakespeare was altered to omit the medial "e," the letter "B." was expanded to Beaumont, the spelling of Grey was changed to Gray, the few missing footnote numbers were added, the singular exit was made plural where necessary, and minor mistakes in printing the 1778 notes were corrected (e.g., "lost" changed to "last" in Dr. Johnson's note, I, 23). More importantly, because Reed deleted most of Warburton's notes, he was obliged to remove also Dr. Johnson's responses to them. As a result, however, the 1785 edition contains very few examples of Dr. Johnson's 1765 notes. Whenever possible, Reed preferred to substitute a cross reference for a quoted passage from Shakespeare, and so began the disappearance of the easily considered similar passages at the foot of the variorum page. To the same end, some superfluous citations were swept out of the notes left standing, so that the number of parallels was somewhat reduced; this occurred primarily in Steevens' notes, since he regularly had offered a compilation of
Reed also added many new notes. Over a thousand came from Malone, including for the early volumes 273 which are handwritten; some of these modified his 1780 or 1783 notes. He also added 305 new notes from Steevens and an additional 24 which were first printed in Malone's 1780 Supplement. Reed completely deleted 370 of Steevens' notes. Some of Steevens' new notes are in his own hand and are tipped in, but for the most part the new notes by Steevens have been transcribed by Reed. Reed himself gives 192 new notes, and he reports the opinions of Ritson, Dr. Farmer, and others in an additional thirty-six notes. Steevens reported Dr. Farmer in thirty-three notes, and this life-long friend of all three editors stands alone in about a half-dozen notes. Dr. Farmer entertained his friends in Cambridge and was entertained by them when he came to the city; in fact, although Professor Sherbo believes that Reed had insufficient time to edit the 1785 edition, his diary reveals that he left on September 27, 1784, for his annual visit to Cambridge. Less is known about most of the other contributors, except John Monck Mason and Joseph Ritson, whose critiques of the 1778 edition were incorporated into the 1785 commentary. A few dozen notes came from Rev. Henley, identified in the 1778 edition (I,85) as being from Harrow on the Hill, and an equal number altogether from Justice Blackstone, Brand, Collins, Henderson, Musgrave, Bishop Percy, Tollet, Tyrwhitt, Upton, Thomas Warton, and of course John Nichols. Dr. Lort, an occasional dinner companion and host to the three editors, also made a few contributions.
In isolated instances these minor contributors influenced the text. Dr. Farmer is clearly responsible for eight emendations, and Reed also may claim eight without dispute. Often unacknowledged, Ritson stands behind twenty emendations; Malone is responsible, also at times without acknowledgement, for sixty-three textual emendations. Steevens and Tyrwhitt each are credited with five changes in the text, and ten more are made by various hands. Omitting the corrected errata, the obvious housekeeping, the plural of exit and the alternative spelling of "oh," there are 86 more changes in the text which are unsigned. Because of Steevens' strong repudiation of the 1785 edition, we have good reason to suppose that Reed made many of these changes on his own.
| | |