1137. lands] Old eds. “lands.”
1139. Saint Antling’s] For an account of the church and parish so called, see Stow’s Survey of London: “First you have the fair Parish Church of St. Anthonines, in Budge Row (more vulgarly known by the name of St. Antlins),” &c.—B. iii. p. 15, &c. ed. 1720.
1141. owe] i. e. own.
1142. hither] So ed. 1630. First ed. “thether.”
1143. beset] i. e. perplexed, embarrassed.
1144. Who’s this? ’Tis] First ed. “Whose? tis.” Ed. 1630, “Whose? this.”
1145. Had-land] Is given as two distinct words in the old eds.: but compare our author’s Trick to catch the Old One, act i. sc. 2, where the Host says to Witgood, “what’s the news, bully Had-land?”
1146. Enter Officers, &c.] The only stage-direction of the old eds. in this scene is, “Enter Lethe with Officers, taken with his Harlot:” that the additions which I have made to it are necessary, the following scene will shew.
1147. ’Twixt] Old eds. “Betwixt.”
1148. I’m] Old eds. “I am.”
1150. does it] These words ought perhaps to be thrown out.—In several parts of this scene the corruption of the text has affected the metre.
1151. resolve] i. e. convince, satisfy.
1152. Sale.] Old eds. “Gent.:” for which I have substituted Salewood, who, as we may gather from act iii. sc. 5 (see p. 484), was privy to the design of exposing Lethe.
1154. lashes] So ed. 1630. First ed. “lastes.”
1156. His own mother, &c.] Before this speech something seems wanting.
1157. Mistress] So ed. 1630. First ed. “Maister.”
1158. again] i. e. against.
1159. defy] i. e. reject, renounce.
1160. Shortyard, we banish thee; it is our pleasure] Old eds. “Shortyard we banish, ’tis our pleasure.”—I may remark that, though the guilty are deservedly punished, the judge administers justice somewhat arbitrarily in this scene, which is evidently supposed to pass in a private dwelling.
The footnote scheme used lettered references, repeating a-z. On numerous of occasions, letters were skipped or repeated. The resequencing of notes here resolves those lapses. Footnotes on occasion are themselves footnoted. For uniqueness, these are referenced as, for example, ‘35A’.
One unanchored footnote at p. 239 l. 10 was mentioned at the bottom of that page, glossing the word ‘precept’. That anchor has been added as 239.10.
An errata section was prepated by the Editor and included in this first volume, which provides additions and corrections to all five volumes in this set. The relevant sections will be repeated at the end of the Transcriber’s note of each subsequent volume.
Stage directions, except for entrances, can be:
The same convention is followed here. Since this version is wider than the original, most directions are on the same line as the speech.
Other errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected, and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the original.
| 51.8 | the end of serving[ /-]men: | Added. |
| 65.9 | Lys. We’re for you, sir[,/.] | Replaced. |
| 343.5 | [a/A]nd a loft above | Replaced. |