ABSTRACT
This chapter is about what Shakespeare looks like when he is written down. Spelling is a main topic, but we shall also be looking at punctuation and the use of some letters of the alphabet (an area called graphology). One conclusion will be that what appeared on the page was often subject to ‘the taste and fancy’ of the user. Attitudes were quite relaxed, and a great deal of variation in spelling and punctuation was tolerated without apparently raising eyebrows. Where Shakespeare’s texts are concerned, we need to remember that the ‘user’ may very well not be the writer himself, but some of the many hands involved in the transmission process. To remind yourself of this process, and the roles played by scriveners, compositors and editors, look back to 1.5.
