The First Quarto of King Henry V

This is the first modernized critical edition of Shakespeare's Henry V in the form of its original staging at the Globe in 1599.

William Shakespeare (Author), Andrew Gurr (Edited by)

9780521623360, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 1 June 2000

140 pages, 2 b/w illus.
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.36 kg

"The sixth release in Cambridge's useful books on the early quartos, this volume prompts fresh regard for what the quartos have to tell. Gurr's content will ignite interest among all serious readers of Shakespeare and may detonate a barrage of scholarly responses. Highly recommended for upper-division undergraduates through faculty and for professional collections." Choice

The Quarto text of Henry V is of unique importance. It is the first and probably the only text of a Shakespeare play which provides the playscript corresponding to the version that was actually performed by Shakespeare's own company. It has the authority of being transcribed by actors in the company as a record of their original staging at the Globe in 1599. The quarto version differs radically from the First Folio text which is used as the source for all other editions. Half as long as the Folio, it represents a practical staging text that streamlined the script supplied by Shakespeare. This edition of the Henry V quarto provides a modernized text alongside the extensive commentary. Andrew Gurr examines each variant from the Folio text in detail, shedding new light on what happened to scripts that the Shakespeare company bought from their resident playwright.

List of illustrations
Preface
Abbreviations and conventions
Introduction
1. The significance of the quarto text
2. The nature of playhouse manuscripts
3. The history of Henry V's quarto text
4. The quarto printings
5. The copy for and printing of Q1
6. The so-called 'reporters' of Q1
7. Compositor errors in Q1
8. Mishearings from dictation
9. Re-lineation
10. Premeditated revisions
11. Reassignments of parts
12. Q's use of the cuts from F
13. Verbal alterations for consistency
14. Shakespeare's changes or the players'?
15. Stage history
Note on the text
List of characters
The Play
Textual notes
Appendix 1: some of Q's re-lining of verse
Appendix 2: Q's rendering of Pistol's lines as verse
Bibliography.

Subject Areas: Shakespeare plays [DDS]