Item 69 - Letter from J. M. Nosworthy to Sir Walter Greg

2 single sheets

Cwm Cottage, Aberystwyth.—Asks for Greg’s help in connection with his work on the text of Macbeth.

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Transcript

Cwm Cottage, Aberystwyth.
October 2nd.

Dear Sir Walter,

My study of Macbeth is proceeding apace, but I am getting into rather deep waters textually, and wonder whether you can help.

I am now clear that the 1612(?) revision, including the Hecate material, was made by Shakespeare. This, if correct, means that the copy for the Folio was something in which only the author and the book-keeper were concerned, and eliminates Middleton or any other third party. It was, I think, somewhat untidy copy, and certain irregularities, especially in I. ii and IV. i., suggest that it was the prompt-book itself, and not a transcript. On general grounds I am tempted to conclude that it was Shakespeare’s fair copy, marked by the book-keeper, and used as a prompt-book, but I am short of positive evidence. Author-spellings are mainly confined to proper names, though ‘Apparation’ (as in Cymbeline) is suggestive.

The point, then, is this:—if the third party is eliminated, does this in any way affect the conclusions which you have reached in The Shakespeare First Folio?

I shall ask you to take my Hecate conclusions on trust. The evidence is extraordinarily intricate and would only carry conviction if set out at inordinate length. But I feel that if you can suspend disbelief for the moment, you will certainly be able to throw some light on my textual darkness.

Yours sincerely,
J. M. Nosworthy

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Typed, except the signature and a correction. The printed address, ‘Coleg Prifysgol Cymru, University College of Wales, Aberystwyth’, has been struck through.

Formerly inserted in Greg's copy of The Shakespeare First Folio (1955) (Adv. c. 26. 1).

This description was created by A. C. Green in 2020.