Henry IV Part 2 (1921) Yale/Appendix C
APPENDIX C
The Text of the Present Edition
The text of the present edition is, in the main, by permission of the Oxford University Press, that of the Oxford Shakespeare, edited by the late W. J. Craig. Stage directions, when not bracketed, are from either the First Quarto or the First Folio or both; bracketed stage directions are modern. The title of the play is from the First Quarto. The Dramatis Personæ are as given in the First Folio under the caption 'The Actors' Names.'
In II. ii. 131-149 the present editor has substituted the original assignment of speeches, in ll. 131, 135, as found in both Quarto and Folio, for Craig's assignment, as there seems to be no sufficient reason for emendations. He has also assigned ll. 139-148 to the Prince. Craig divides as follows:
131–133Poins. Sir John . . . certificate.
134 Prince. Peace.
135–149 Poins. I will . . . eat it.
Many minor departures from the Oxford text have been made in this edition in an attempt to arrive at a consistent text. The Oxford editor has in the majority of cases followed the readings of the First Quarto, but in about fifty instances he has adopted the slightly different expressions used in the more formal and less colloquial Folio text. For example, in the scenes of low comedy, he in the Folio is almost invariably a' in the Quarto; is it is is 't; it is is 'tis; etc. The Oxford editor has used sometimes the formal, sometimes the informal expression. He sometimes follows the Folio in correcting the grammar and the mispronunciations of Mistress Quickly and Justice Shallow, and sometimes does not; he frequently omits the oaths found in the Quarto and expurgated in the Folio, but more frequently includes them. The present editor has not thought it wise to burden his pages with a long list of the minor changes he has made in the Oxford text. His policy has been to follow, in general, the more colloquial Quarto text.
In the following list of other variants the readings of the present edition precede the colon, Craig's readings follow it, and the Quarto or Folio authority is given wherever involved:
Ind. 35 hole QF: hold
I. i. 33 comes QF: come
ii. 5 moe Q: more F
44 through QF: thorough
132 it QF: its
II. i. 2 action QF: exion
6 Sirrah!—: Sirrah, QF
82 all I have Q: all, all I have F
184 my lord Q: my good lord F
ii. 21 another Q: one other F
66 an QF: a
75 those QF: these
82 Poins QF: Bard.
123 kin QF: akin
137 he sure Q: sure he F
iii. 63 his QF: its
iv. 42 a pox damn you Q : omit F
51 Yea, joy Q: Ay, marry F
91 debuty Q: deputy F
93 Wedesday Q: Wednesday F
142 but I will Q: I will (passage omitted in F)
171 faitors (faters Q): fates F
194 fortune Q: fortuna F
298 shalt have Q: thou shalt have F
428-9 Come! (She comes blubbered.) Yea, will you come, Doll? Q: omit F
III. ii. 210 field QF: fields
339 invisible: invincible QF
IV. ii. 14 mischiefs QF: mischief
v. 146 inward, true, and Q: true and inward F
V. iii. 141 Blessed Q: Happy F
142 to Q: unto F
iv. 2 that I might die Q : I might die F
11 wert Q: hadst F
v. 25 best, Q: most F