This volume gives readers the First Quarto text of 1603 and the Folio Text of 1623, modernised and edited to highest standard. As a companion to the Second Quarto volume, it will be of particular interest to scholars and students of textual history, or to anyone studying Hamlet at an advanced level. Both plays are edited and annotated and the introduction contains the fullest available stage history of the First Quarto text.
'An extraordinary achievement and milestone in the recent history of version-based editing at its best.' Eric Rasmussen, Shakespeare Survey
'The Arden 3 Hamlet is fascinating, and every Shakespeare scholar will want to possess it. The editors' approach is attuned to the relativism, pluralism, and skepticism of our time, and it is defended with remarkable thoroughness and intelligence.Thompson and Taylor's introductory material is in line with their treatment of the text.they are concerned to introduce the reader to the multitude of diverse critical approaches and to the variety within the developing theatrical tradition. They do this very well, and their discussion of Hamlet on stage and screen and of its offshoots in drama and fiction fills a notable gap.The full and consistently interesting commentary is also enlivened by snippets of information about performances.Thompson and Taylor have made an innovative and stimulating contribution to the Arden 3 series.' Shakespeare Quarterly