Note VI

III. 3. 153. Johnson attributes the reading 'improbably' to what he calls 'the old Quarto.' We have not found it in any copies.

III. 3. 172. In the Devonshire copy of the first Quarto, which formerly belonged to Steevens, and which was the original of his reprint, the word 'loues' is partially obliterated by being changed with a pen to 'hates', but being still obscure 'hates', is written in the margin opposite in the same hand as the stage direction mentioned in note IV. Capell's copy has distinctly 'loues', and that this was originally the reading of the Devonshire copy is evident from the traces of the letters which still remain. Two lines above, opposite 'make,' a late hand has written in pencil 'muck' (which is Becket's conjecture) in the Devonshire copy. We have no means of ascertaining whether this note was written before or after the publication of Becket's work.