John Smethwick; the title-page describes the tragedy as having been "sundry times publiquely Acted, by the Kings Majesties Servants at the Globe."
The fourth Quarto (Q 4), printed also for John Smethwicke, is without date. In some copies the word "Globe" is followed by "Written by W. Shake-speare." In other copies (said by Halliwell-Phillipps to be the later issues) the name of the author does not appear.
The fifth Quarto (Q 5) is dated 1637; it was printed by "R. Young for John Smethwicke."
The text of Romeo and Juliet in the first Folio, 1623, (F) was derived from Q 3.
The editors of the Cambridge Shakespeare observe: "As usual there are a number of changes, some accidental, some deliberate, but all generally for the worse, excepting the changes in punctuation and in the stage-directions. The punctuation, as a rule, is more correct, and the stage-directions are more complete, in the Folio."
The second Quarto—1599—first gives the play in full; it is our best authority for the text; but the corrections of the later Quartos and of the Folio are valuable aids towards ascertaining the text, while in not a few passages Q 1 lends assistance which cannot elsewhere be found.
In the present edition the readings of Q and of F which differ from the editor's text are recorded, except a few obvious misprints and such others as seem wholly unimportant. Not many references are made to Q 3, because in general its various readings passed into the text of F, which was derived from that Quarto. For my
