Editorial Introduction
This electronic edition of Thomas Baker’s Tunbridge
Walks; or, The Yeoman of Kent is the project of a collaborative
graduate seminar at the University of Saskatchewan. The student
editors are Karen Hepp, Deborah Leiter, Emily Morris, and Nikoline
Thomson. The web interface was designed and prepared by Deborah
Leiter. The base text for our edition is the British Library’s
copy of the 1703 first edition, the only edition for which Baker
is likely to have had any contact with the printer.
The primary
goal for this edition was to undertake an exercise in critical
editing that would yield a readable and reliable, though not
an absolutely authoritative text of a significant play that does
not exist in any modern edition. Textual variants were collated
vertically (from edition to edition), though not horizontally (within
editions), since we had access to electronic reproductions of only
one copy of each edition. Textual notes reflecting a small number
of emendations are interspersed with the content notes. Complete
lists of textual variants (mainly in accidentals) are available
from the supervising editor by email at ron.cooley@usask.ca . In
lieu of conjectural scene divisions and lineation, we have elected
to number the speeches within each act.
Our edition is intended
as a resource for students and scholars. We welcome reproduction
for educational and research purposes, provided that the work of
the editors is appropriately acknowledged.
—Ronald W. Cooley, Supervising Editor
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