As the late Professor Tucker Brooke has observed,
practically all modern editions of Shakespeare
are 18th-century versions of the plays, based on the
additions, alterations, and emendations of editors of
that period. It has been our purpose, as it was Pro-
fessor Brooke's, to give the modern reader Shake-
speare's plays in the approximate form of their orig-
inal appearance.

About half the plays appeared in quarto form
before the publication of the First Folio in 1623.
Thus for a large number of plays the only available
text is that of the Folio. In the case of quarto plays
our policy has been to use that text as the basis of
the edition, unless it is clear that the text has been
contaminated.

Interesting for us today is the fact that there are
no act or scene divisions in the Quartos with the ex-
ception of Othello, which does mark Acts I, II, IV,
and V but lacks indications of scenes. Even in the
Folio, although act divisions are generally noted,
only a part of the scenes are divided. In no case,
either in Quarto or Folio, is there any indication of
the place of action. The manifold scene divisions for
the battle in such a play as Antony and Cleopatra,
together with such locations as "Another part of
the field," are the additions of the 18th century.

We have eliminated all indications of the place and
time of action, because there is no authority for them
in the originals and because Shakespeare gives such
information, when it is requisite for understanding
the play, through the dialogue of the actors. We have
been sparing in our use of added scene and, in some
cases, act divisions, because these frequently impede

-v-