The present Edition of Hamlet is an accurate reprint from
the only known copy of this Tragedy as originally written by Shakespeare, which
he afterwards altered and enlarged.
The literary world was abuzz. The account of the
discovery, such as it is below, appeared in the pages of The Gentleman’s
Magazine.[1]
A literary treasure, says the New Times, which is likely to excite strong interest in the minds of all well-read lovers of the ancient English Drama, and will awaken the hopes and fears of every ambitious and jealous collector of scarce books, has within the last few days been brought to light, and is now in the hands of Messrs.
Payne & Foss, of Pall-mall. This exhumated
curiosity is a book in small quarto, once possessed by Sir Thomas Hanmer, but
not alluded to by him, containing the scarce editions of eleven of Shakspeare’s
Plays, amongst which is Hamlet. The perusal of the whole of these must highly gratify a qualified reader; but a
careful collation of the latter tragedy will bestow a greater reward on the
diligence of the critical examiner than any or all of the others can give; it
is in fact the principal feature in the volume. The following is the title under
which it appears: “The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke, by
William Shakespeare. As it has been diverse times acted by his Highnesse Seruants
in the Cittie of London: as also in the Vniuersities of Cambridge and Oxford, and
else-where. At London, printed for N. L. and John Trundell, 1603." Of this
edition not the slightest mention has ever been made; it is therefore fair to
conclude, that to the various able and laborious commentators of Shakspeare it
was utterly unknown, the earliest which has ever obtained notice being that of
1604, of which Mr. Malone gives the title, though it is quite clear that he had
no other knowledge of it. Many striking peculiarities in this edition of Hamlet
tend strongly to confirm the opinion that no small portion of the ribaldry to
be found in the plays of our great dramatic poet, is to be assigned to the
actors of his time, who flattered the vulgar taste, and administered to the
vicious propensities of their age, by the introduction and constant repetition of
many indecent, and not a few stupid jokes, till they came to be considered and
then printed as part of the genuine text. Of these the two or three brief but
offensive speeches of Hamlet to Ophelia, in the Play Scene, Act iii. are not to
be found in the copy of 1603, and so far we are borne out in our opinion; for
it is not to be supposed that Shakspeare would insert them upon cool reflection,
and three years after the success of his piece had been determined ; still less
likely is it that a piratical printer would reject any thing actually belonging
to the play, which was pleasing to the great bulk of those who were to become
the purchasers of his publication. The drama as it appears in this print of
1603, is much shorter than in any subsequent edition, partly owing perhaps to
the negligence of the copyist, but more probably because the author himself elaborated
and augmented it after it had been for some time on the stage. The fact of Hamlet
having been performed so early at Cambridge and Oxford is not the least
remarkable thing in this edition of the tragedy. An exact reprint of this
curious Play will be published in a few days.
We learn from M. W. Rodney, in his introduction to the
second copy found of the 1603 Hamlet — this one with the final page intact —
that the first copy was purchased at a high price by the Duke of Devonshire.[2]
A continuation of the story of Payne and Foss’s discovery
of the first known copy was published in the volume The Devonshire Hamlets
(1860) which presented the text of the Duke’s copies of the 1st and
2nd Quartos. The gentlemen purchased the quarto of eleven
Shakespeare plays bound together for 180l.
They published the text and sold the original composite volume to the Duke of
Devonshire for 250l.
Critics, of course, differ very widely as to the real date
and history of this famous quarto. Mr. Payne Collier thinks it was probably
printed from short-hand notes, revised by an inferior dramatist: others
consider that it is, as far as it goes, a correct copy of the first version of
the famous play; while nearly all agree that the date upon the title page gives
no clue to the real date when the play was first written and performed. The
contemporary literature affords four passages showing that a play called Hamlet
was known before 1598 [1589?], but no trace is found of any other Hamlet than
that which bears Shakespeare’s name; and it is therefore a reasonable
assumption that this drama, bearing the date 1603, may have been a recognized
work of Shakespeare, publicly performed several years before that date, and “surreptitiously”
printed in that year.[3]
[1] Gentleman’s
Mag. Jan. 1825. 68-9.
[2] Rodney,
M. W. Hamlet. First Edition (1603).The Last Leaf of the Lately Discovered
Copy Carefully Reprinted. (1856). 12.
[3] The Devonshire Hamlets (1860). viii.
Also at Virtual Grub Street:
- More on Thomas North as Shakespeare and author of Arden of Feversham. June 14, 2021. “This is also the reason why the title pages included the address of the shop that was selling the book.”
- A 1572 Oxford Letter and the Player’s Speech in Hamlet. August 11, 2020. “The player’s speech has been a source of consternation among Shakespeare scholars for above 200 years. Why was Aeneas’ tale chosen as the subject?”
- Gutenberg, proto-Hack Writers and Shakespeare. May 26, 2020. “A less well known effect of the Reformation was that many young Catholic men who had taken religious orders in order to receive an education began to lead lives at large from monastic discipline. Like Erasmus and Rabelais they took up the pen.”
- Shakespeare’s Funeral Meats. May 13, 2020. “Famous as this has been since its discovery, it has been willfully misread more often than not. No mainstream scholar had any use for a reference to Hamlet years before it was supposed to have been written.”
- Check out the English Renaissance Article Index for many more articles and reviews about this fascinating time and about the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
- Check out the Letters Index: Edward de Vere, 17th Earl of Oxford for many letters from this fascinating time, some related to the Shakespeare Authorship Question.
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