Shakespeare’s Hamlet has three substantive editions: the First Quarto (Q1; 1603), the Second Quarto (Q2; 1604-5) and the First Folio (F1; 1623). Modern scholars regard Q1 as the untrustworthy memorial reconstruction of an actor. For this reason, most modern editions of the play, such as the Oxford or Cambridge ones, place Q2 and F1 as their base texts, rather than Q1.

However, when we take theatrical aspects into account, it is apparent that we should not disregard the features of Q1. The edition offers the most realistic stage duration, and represents the character of Hamlet as the one known to public audiences before the eighteenth century.

In this paper, I examine the differences between the three substantive editions of Hamlet through a series of detailed comparisons between them, in order to demonstrate the shortcomings of relying solely on Q2 and F1, and ignoring Q1 from consideration. The ultimate aim of this paper is to suggest the importance of exploring the relationship of Q2 and F1 not only to one another, but also to Q1, and to cast a new light on textual studies of Hamlet.