About The Marginal Notes

The information about the marginalia offered in MUSC database is all taken from The First Folio of Shakespeare: A Transcript of Contemporary Marginalia, (Yushodo, 1998) by Dr Akihiro Yamada, the Former Professor of Meisei University, the Former Director of Meisei University Library, and the Emeritus Professor of Shinshu University. The entire book is mounted here verbatim in HTML format under the permission of the authour.

Please note:

• HTML format does not always reproduce the original spacing and page layout, as well as the size and quality of the illustrations.
• For convenience' sake, the two cases of textual interpolations at ee2,a [in the text at TLN 2567] and pp1v,a [at TLN 2313; in the text space at the right end of the line] are, in this digitized version, keyed to ee2,e and pp1v,e respectively.
• A number of corrections as well as additional footnotes prepared by the authour have been incorporated here in the current digitized version: Please see 'Preface to the Digital Version.'

The First Folio of Shakespeare: A Transcript of Contemporary Marginalia

New Evidence Regarding the Marginalia Author

Dr Akihiro Yamada, Professor Emeritus of Shinshu University and Former Professor of Meisei University, has found evidence for the identification of William Johnstoune, an early owner of the MR 774 Meisei Copy. In his The First Folio of Shakespeare: A Transcript of Contemporary Marginalia (1998), Professor Yamada suggested only very reluctantly that Johnstoune is merely one of the candidates for the authorship of the marginalia in the Copy. His new findings have been published in the December 2018 issue of Notes and Queries.

Through extensive research in Scottish archives, Professor Yamada was able to locate a letter dated 28 October 1699 that bears the identical signature to that of William Johnstoune who left his ownership inscription, `William Johnstoune.. his Booke', in the upper margin of the Epistle Dedicatorie, sig. πA2 (Image Number = 5). Comparing the two texts, Professor Yamada concludes that William Johnstoune cannot be the author of the marginalia in the Meisei Copy. The following “note” by Professor Yamada is an exciting story in search of William Johnstoune and the people who left their bookplates pasted in this copy [see the bookplates below]:

Akihiro Yamada, “William Johnstoune, Signatory in Shakespeare's First Folio, and its Owners”, Notes and Queries, Volume 65, Issue 4, 1 December 2018, Pages 551-556,
https://doi.org/10.1093/notesj/gjy173.



(Click to enlarge)

Bookplates on Paste-down endpaper of MR 774.

May 29, 2019