"Hamlet" After Q1: An Uncanny History of the Shakespearean Text (Material Texts)

Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014. — 304 p. — ISBN-10: 0812246616; ISBN-13: 978-0812246612. In 1823, Sir Henry Bunbury discovered a badly bound volume of twelve Shakespeare plays in a closet of his manor house. Nearly all of the plays were first editions, but one stood out as extraordinary: a previously unknown text of Hamlet that predated all other versions. Suddenly, the world had to grapple with a radically new — or rather, old—Hamlet in which the characters, plot, and poetry of Shakespeare's most famous play were profoundly and strangely transformed.Q1, as the text is known, has been declared a rough draft, a shorthand piracy, a memorial reconstruction, and a pre-Shakespearean "ur-Hamlet," among other things. Flickering between two historical moments—its publication in Shakespeare's early seventeenth century and its rediscovery in Bunbury's early nineteenth—Q1 is both the first and last Hamlet. Because this text became widely known only after the familiar version of the play had reached the pinnacle of English literature, its reception has entirely depended on this uncanny temporal oscillation; so too has its ongoing influence on twentieth- and twenty-first-century ideas of the play. Zachary Lesser examines how the improbable discovery of Q1 has forced readers to reconsider accepted truths about Shakespeare as an author and about the nature of Shakespeare's texts. In telling the story of this mysterious quarto and tracing the debates in newspapers, London theaters, and scholarly journals that followed its discovery, Lesser offers brilliant new insights on what we think we mean when we talk about Hamlet. Introduction. The Urn -Hamlet As Originally Written by Shakespeare: Textual Bibliography and Textual Biography Contrary Matters: The Power of the Gloss and the History of an Obscenity Enter the Ghost in His Night Gowne: Behind Gertrude’s Bed Conscience Makes Cowards: The Disintegration and Reintegration of Shakespeare Conclusion. Q1 in the Library at Babel Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2014. — 304 p. — ISBN-10: 0812246616; ISBN-13: 978-0812246612.In 1823, Sir Henry Bunbury discovered a badly bound volume of twelve Shakespeare plays in a closet of his manor house. Nearly all of the plays were first editions, but one stood out as extraordinary: a previously unknown text of Hamlet that predated all other versions. Suddenly, the world had to grapple with a radically new — or rather, old—Hamlet in which the characters, plot, and poetry of Shakespeare's most famous play were profoundly and strangely transformed.Q1, as the text is known, has been declared a rough draft, a shorthand piracy, a memorial reconstruction, and a pre-Shakespearean "ur-Hamlet," among other things. Flickering between two historical moments—its publication in Shakespeare's early seventeenth century and its rediscovery in Bunbury's early nineteenth—Q1 is both the first and last Hamlet. Because this text became widely known only after the familiar version of the play had reached the pinnacle of English literature, its reception has entirely depended on this uncanny temporal oscillation; so too has its ongoing influence on twentieth- and twenty-first-century ideas of the play. Zachary Lesser examines how the improbable discovery of Q1 has forced readers to reconsider accepted truths about Shakespeare as an author and about the nature of Shakespeare's texts. In telling the story of this mysterious quarto and tracing the debates in newspapers, London theaters, and scholarly journals that followed its discovery, Lesser offers brilliant new insights on what we think we mean when we talk about Hamlet. Introduction. The __Urn__-Hamlet As Originally Written by Shakespeare: Textual Bibliography and Textual BiographyContrary Matters: The Power of the Gloss and the History of an ObscenityEnter the Ghost in His Night Gowne: Behind Gertrude’s BedConscience Makes Cowards: The Disintegration and Reintegration of Shakespeare Conclusion. Q1 in the Library at Babel In 1823, Sir Henry Bunbury discovered a badly bound volume of twelve Shakespeare plays in a closet of his manor house. Nearly all of the plays were first editions, but one stood out as extraordinary: a previously unknown text of Hamlet that predated all other versions. Suddenly, the world had to grapple with a radically new--or rather, old-- Hamlet in which the characters, plot, and poetry of Shakespeare's most famous play were profoundly and strangely transformed. Q1, as the text is known, has been declared a rough draft, a shorthand piracy, a memorial reconstruction, and a pre-Shakespearean "ur- Hamlet ," among other things. Flickering between two historical moments--its publication in Shakespeare's early seventeenth century and its rediscovery in Bunbury's early nineteenth--Q1 is both the first and last Hamlet . Because this text became widely known only after the familiar version of the play had reached the pinnacle of English literature, its reception has entirely depended on this uncanny temporal oscillation; so too has its ongoing influence on twentieth- and twenty-first-century ideas of the play. Zachary Lesser examines how the improbable discovery of Q1 has forced readers to reconsider accepted truths about Shakespeare as an author and about the nature of Shakespeare's texts. In telling the story of this mysterious quarto and tracing the debates in newspapers, London theaters, and scholarly journals that followed its discovery, Lesser offers brilliant new insights on what we think we mean when we talk about Hamlet . "In 1823, Sir Henry Bunbury discovered a badly bound volume of twelve Shakespeare plays in a closet of his manor house. Nearly all of the plays were first editions, but one stood out as especially noteworthy: a previously unknown text of Hamlet that predated all other versions ... Q1, as the text is known, has been declared a rough draft, a memorial reconstruction, and a pre-Shakespearean "ur-Hamlet," among other things ... Zachary Lesser examines how the improbable discovery of Q1 has forced readers to reconsider accepted truths about Shakespeare as an author and about the nature of Shakespeare's texts"--Jacket Cover 1 Hamlet After Q1 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 Contents 10 Introduction. The Urn-Hamlet 12 Chapter 1. As Originally Written by Shakespeare: Textual Bibliography and Textual Biography 36 Chapter 2. Contrary Matters: The Power of the Gloss and the History of an Obscenity 83 Chapter 3. Enter the Ghost in His Night Gowne: Behind Gertrude’s Bed 125 Chapter 4. Conscience Makes Cowards: The Disintegration and Reintegration of Shakespeare 168 Conclusion. Q1 in the Library at Babel 218 Notes 234 Bibliography 270 Index 290 Acknowledgments 302 In 1823 Sir Henry Bunbury discovered an early edition of Hamlet that radically differs from the known and celebrated version of the play. Zachary Lesser examines how this improbable discovery forced readers to reexamine accepted truths about Shakespeare as an author and the nature of Shakespeare's texts.