Page:Henry IV Part 1 (1917) Yale.djvu/143



The text used in this edition is that of Craig's Oxford Shakespeare (Oxford University Press), which follows, almost invariably, the First Quarto, the best early text of Henry IV, Part I. The stage-directions are not those of the Oxford Shakespeare, but are for the most part from either the First Quarto or the First Folio; stage-directions which are bracketed are modern.

Occasionally the Oxford Shakespeare departs from the reading of the First Quarto, and substitutes an inferior reading from the First Folio. In such cases I have restored the Quarto readings, as noted below.

I have taken the title of the play from the First Folio. The First Quarto title, which omits the phrase 'The first part,' is as follows:

THE | HISTORY OF | HENRIE THE | FOURTH; | With the battell at Shrewsburie | betweene the King and Lord | Henry Percy, surnamed Henrie Hotspur of the North | With the humorous conceits of Sir | Iohn Falstaffe.

In the Dramatis Personæ, the Oxford Shakespeare omits the name of Francis, although in all stage-directions and before speeches it uses the name Francis instead of the word 'Drawer' which is used in Quartos and Folios.

The list of my departures from the Oxford text follows: