“Bad quarto” is the term coined by the English bibliographer A.W. Pollard to refer to the first few printed versions of Shakespearean plays. According to Pollard, these printed versions were not printed according to the original text of Shakespeare [1] . The “good” quarto, in Pollard's terminology, include those whose text as a whole coincides with the text printed in the first folio of 1623.
The term bad quarto applies to the first quarto editions of the plays Romeo and Juliet (1597), Henry V (1600), Windsor Mockers (1602), and Hamlet (1603). According to Pollard, all of these texts are retelling of Shakespeare's original text, recovered from the memory of several actors. According to other versions, these texts are either early versions of Shakespeare's plays, or abridged versions that were made for Shakespeare or some other troupe. The fact is that a bad quarto sometimes contains text that is not found in more complete later editions.
Content
Origin Versions
Text researchers drew attention to this feature: despite the fact that, in general, the texts of the “bad” first quarto differ significantly from the more complete later texts, the speeches of some characters coincide almost verbatim, while others diverge significantly. For example, in “Hamlet” in both editions the speeches of the third-rate character Marcellus completely coincide, in “Windsor Mockers” the speeches of the innkeeper coincide, in “The Assassination of Gonzago” the text is Lucian, as well as the court Voltimanda. Such coincidences suggested that one of the actors restored Shakespeare's comedy from memory in order to sell its manuscript to the publisher.
Probably the “Bad” quartos were printed without the consent of the troupe or the author. To counter the appearance of distorted texts, the troupe or author probably decided to print the original text - after the appearance of the “bad” quarto “Romeo and Juliet” in 1597, the full edition of the play was printed in 1599, indicating on the title page that this quarto contains the text "Re-fixed, enlarged and improved." A year after the appearance of the "bad" quarto of "Hamlet", the full text was printed, and again on the title page it said: "It is reprinted and enlarged almost twice against the former according to a complete and accurate manuscript."
Modern editions
There are two modern editions, which include reprints of early quartos:
- "The New Cambridge Edition of Shakespeare: The Early Quartos," Cambridge University Press, Volume 1 - 1994.
- “Shakespearean Originals: First Editions,” Harvesger Witschiff, 1st Volume - 1992.
There are remarks in the publications that give an idea of the features of the stage productions of plays in Shakespearean times.
Notes
- ↑ Shakespearean Encyclopedia. - M .: Rainbow. Edited by Stanley Wells with the participation of James Shaw. Translation by A. Shulgat. 2002.
Literature
- Alfred W. Pollard Shakespeare Folios and Quartos: A Study in the Bibliography of Shakespeare's Plays, 1909. (English)
- Alfred W. Pollard Shakespeare's Fight with the Pirates, And the Problem of the Transmission of his Text, 1917 .
Links
- Shakespeare W. The tragic story of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark . Translation by A.N. Baranov (according to the text of the so-called “Bad Quarto”)