This volume gives readers the First Quarto text of 1603 and the Folio Text of 1623, modernised and edited to the usual Arden 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. "The Arden3 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 Arden3 series."--"Shakespeare Quarterly """ "Hamlet...has been given a rebirth of sorts by editors Ann Thompson and Neil Taylor...puts the final pieces of the "puzzle of Hamlet" into place by publishing...updated versions of both the First Quarto and First Folio editions of the play. This wonderful ternion gives the serious students of Hamlet everything they need to delve deeply into the Dane. The textual annotations are extensive and worth the price of the book alone. None of the material is duplicated from the Hamlet: Arden Third Series, so this is all new commentary from two of the brightest minds in the world of Shakespeare... Delivers the quality you've come to expect from Arden."--PlayShakespeare.comList of illustrations General editors' preface Introduction: - The relationship of this volume to the Arden Hamlet - Policy on commentary notes, textual notes and references - Retention of F readings - Retention of Q1 readings - Policy on Q1 metre and lineation - Policy on punctuation - Summary of our position on the three texts - Stage history of the First Quarto - Checklist of Q1 productions THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK The First Quarto (1603) THE TRAGICAL HISTORY OF HAMLET, PRINCE OF DENMARK The First Folio (1623) Abbreviations and references Index