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The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 17.0083  Wednesday, 1 March 2006

[1] 	From: 	David Levine <davidmlevine@worldnet.att.net>
	Date: 	Sunday, 26 Feb 2006 17:42:30 -0500
	Subj: 	Re: SHK 17.0067 Arden3 Hamlet

[2] 	From: 	Thomas Pendleton <TPendleton@iona.edu>
	Date: 	Monday, 27 Feb 2006 14:17:57 -0500
	Subj: 	RE: SHK 17.0067 Arden3 Hamlet


[1]-----------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		David Levine <davidmlevine@worldnet.att.net>
Date: 		Sunday, 26 Feb 2006 17:42:30 -0500
Subject: 17.0067 Arden3 Hamlet
Comment: 	Re: SHK 17.0067 Arden3 Hamlet

I don't know how everyone feels about this, but I am intending to 
boycott this Arden 3 edition of Hamlet whatever the price, since it 
strikes me as reflecting an utterly objectionable editorial policy. 
Harold Jenkins Arden 2 edition remains one of the best books I have ever 
owned; arguably the best example of a modern edition of a Shakespeare 
play.  This new edition seems to reflect a general tendency on the part 
of editors to refuse to take any sort of real position on textual 
matters.  Jenkins himself deplored the edition and said he was glad he 
would be dead when it came out.

[2]-------------------------------------------------------------
From: 		Thomas Pendleton <TPendleton@iona.edu>
Date: 		Monday, 27 Feb 2006 14:17:57 -0500
Subject: 17.0067 Arden3 Hamlet
Comment: 	RE: SHK 17.0067 Arden3 Hamlet

I very much share John Briggs' reaction to the forthcoming Arden 3 
Hamlet. It seems to me almost perverse to operate from a position that 
effectively judges that there are three different plays called Hamlet 
and that the "real Hamlet" is Q2. I acknowledge, of course, that there 
is an argument to be made about the autonomy of each of the versions, 
but as Mr. Briggs makes clear, the effects of that editorial position 
can be-and it looks like will be-detrimental to making the play properly 
available to those who value it.

The worst result is likely to be that this new Arden edition will 
eventually replace Harold Jenkins' magisterial Arden 2 edition, which is 
probably the closest we will ever get to an authoritative edition of 
Hamlet.  I can't believe that a publisher who proposes to sell the 
second volume of Arden 3 for 55 pounds will recognize that Jenkins' 
Hamlet ought to be kept available simply for its excellence.

Tom Pendleton

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