APPENDIX D
The Text of the Present Edition
The text of the present volume is based, by permission of the Oxford University Press, upon that of the Oxford Shakespeare, edited by the late W. J. Craig, and the line-numbering of that edition, employed in Onions' Shakespeare Glossary and other works of reference, has been retained. Craig's text has been carefully collated with the two primary authorities, the 1598 Quarto and the text of Love's Labour's Lost in the Folio of 1623, and the following changes have been made:
1. The stage directions of the two original editions have been restored. They vary only in a few unimportant details. Necessary words and directions, omitted by both Quarto and Folio, are supplied within square brackets.
2. Punctuation and spelling have been normalized to accord with modern English practice; e.g. Anthony, godlike, malcontents, nickname, villainy (instead of Antony, god-like, malecontents, nick-name, villany). Legitimate Shakespearean words have been retained; e.g. ballet, murtherer, strooken, vizard (instead of ballad, murderer, strucken, visor).
3. The following changes of text have been introduced, nearly always in conformity with Quarto and Folio authority (indicated by Q and F respectively). Where the two differ, the Quarto has usually been preferred. Changes of punctuation are noted only when they materially affect the sense. The readings of the present edition precede the colon, while Craig's readings follow it:
