Explain Shakespare to me or you'd be slain

[Anonymous No.13632111]

So, in Romeo and Juliet's Act 1 Scene 1 there's a line Sampson says early on "I mean, if we be in choler, we’ll draw", except that "if" bit appears as "an" in the Folger, Pelican, Norton, and Oxford editions and as "and" in Riverside. It only appears as "if" in the RSC. Not sure about Arden. Fucking autist that I am this bothered me so I decided to do some research and I found out that all the early Folios (F1, F2, F3, F4) and the two first Quartos use "if" while the last Quartos use "and", My question is... if none of the early printings used it then where does this "an" bullshit come from?? Why's this the choice for most of the current versions? Is it an actual English word or is it a misprint of some sort?

[Anonymous No.13632223]

sorry /lit/ I went too far. should've asked a scholar.

[Anonymous No.13632283]

Probably introduced in an intermediate collection of Shakespeare's works which was subsequently carried over to future editions without checking the original folios. Keep tracking each generations Shakespeare collected works to see when the error first enters the text.

Do it by halves. Check the circa 1800 Shakespeare editions (halfway between the folios and today) and then keep bisceting by halves until you find the first incorrect entry.

[Anonymous No.13632359]

>>13632111
I thought shakes sounded like a retard, so now I know it's the editors who are retards.