Chapter 16. Critical Paratexts

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Introduction to Critical Paratexts

Rationale

A critical edition for use in the classroom or rehearsal hall needs a frame to help the reader or user enter the ongoing converstion about the play. If the play has not been widely studied or performed, the editor must offer a critical perspective on the play, explain its textual history, and summarize its early performance history (if known).

Typical Paratexts

Typical critical paratexts in a LEMDO edition might include:
General Introduction
Critical Introduction/Survey (although the summary of the critical conversation may also be included in the General Introduction, particularly for plays that do not have a lengthy critical history)
Textual Introduction
Performance or Stage History
Bibliography
LEMDO editions have also included the following kinds of paratexts:
Acknowledgements
Chronology
Historical Context
Genealogy
Print Reception (in Kirk Melnikoff’s Selimus)
Encyclopedia (in David Bevington’s Hamlet)
Anthology leads set the standard for the structure and length of the critical paratexts and determine what subjects the editor needs to address (e.g., authorship, themes, early staging, historical contexts, critical history, performance history, genealogies, chronologies, and quotations from analogues and sources).1

Critical Paratexts for LEMDO Hornbooks

Anthology leads and editors should keep in mind that the LEMDO Hornbooks series (our print editions from UVic Libraries ePublishing) will not include all the critical paratexts. The print edition will usually include only a General Introduction.

Practice

The critical paratexts for an edition are contained with the crit folder of an edition directory. Each critical paratext will have its own XML file. Editors can open an XML template for critical paratexts in Oxygen. See Use LEMDO’s Oxygen Templates.
Critical paratexts may be divided into sections using the <div> element and a child <head> element. Prose paragraphs are contained within the <p> element. Each paragraph is given an @xml:id attribute and a unique value so that other parts of the edition (annotations, other critical paratexts) can point to the paragraph and so that users can easily link to and cite paragraphs. When critical paratexts quote from the modernized text, we use <ptr> elements to point to anchors in the modernized text.
Critical paratexts are the easiest part of an edition for the LEMDO Team or an RA to encode on behalf of the editor. Encoding these texts does not require micro-editorial decisions in the way that encoding the modernized text does. If you are pressed for time and have funds to pay an RA, feel free to consult with the LEMDO Director about hiring UVic RAs to encode this part of your edition or getting your own RA trained up to encode the critical paratexts for you.

Sections in This Chapter

Deprecate this File

Structure of Critical Paratexts

Rationale

Critical paratexts have a simple content model. At their simplest, they are merely numbered paragraphs. At their most complex, they may have nested sections (divisions) with their own headings and subordinate paragraphs. Sections can contain subsections, but LEMDO advises against a deeply nested structure.

Practice

Critical paratexts may have a <body> element and a <back> element inside the <text> element. Most critical paratext files will not need a <back> element at all. LEMDO does not allow <front> in critical paratexts.
These are the basic structural elements in a critical paratext file:
<body> : Contains your content.
<div> : Division. You can have none, one, or more than one. <div> elements are children of the <body> element.
<head> : Immediate child of the <div> element (i.e., there cannot be another element between <div> and <head> . Captures the heading of the section/division.
<p> : Paragraph, the basic unit of the critical paratext.
<byline> : Occasionally used at the end of the critical paratext.
Additional structural elements that you may need in a critical paratext file are:
<cit> : Contains a block quotation.
<quote> : Child of <cit> . Wraps around the quoted material in a block quotation.
<bibl> : Child of <cit> . Follows <quote> and wraps around the parenthetical citation inside the <cit> element.
<lg> : Child of <quote> . Wraps around line groups in block quotations if the lines form a group and you want to emphasize the fact of the lines forming a group (e.g., a quatrain, a couplet). Note that <lg> is not usually necessary in quoted verse.
<l> : Child of <quote> or child of <lg> when <lg> is a child of <quote> . Wraps around verse lines in block quotations.
The basic structural pattern for a critical paratext with two sections of three paragraphs each, with a quotation in running prose and a block quotation in one paragraph is:
<body>
  <div>
    <head>Heading for First Section</head>
    <p>Paragraph</p>
    <p>Paragraph with <quote>quotation</quote> (<ref>Parenthetical Citation</ref>).</p>
    <p>Paragraph</p>
  </div>
  <div>
    <head>Heading for Second Section</head>
    <p>Paragraph</p>
    <p>Paragraph <cit>
      <quote>Quoted prose passage goes here in the text node of the quote element.</quote>
      <bibl/>
    </cit>
    </p>
    <p>Paragraph <cit>
      <quote>
        <l>First line of verse:</l>
        <l>Second line of verse,</l>
        <l>Third line of verse.</l>
        <l>Fourth line of verse!</l>
      </quote>
      <bibl>(Parenthetical Citation)</bibl>
    </cit>
    </p>
  </div>
</body>
You will find a template containing this structure in Oxygen. See Use LEMDO’s Oxygen Templates.

Divisions/Sections

Critical paratexts may be divided into sections using the <div> element and a child <head> element. Prose paragraphs are contained within the <p> element. Each paragraph is given an @xml:id attribute and a unique value so that other parts of the edition (annotations, other critical paratexts) can point to the paragraph and so that users can easily link to and cite paragraphs. When critical paratexts quote from the modernized text, we use <ptr> elements to point to anchors in the modernized text.
<div xml:id="emdSon_encodingNote_intro">
  <head>Introduction</head>
  <p xml:id="emdSon_encodingNote_p1">LEMDO’s <title level="a">Encoding Guidelines</title> are primarily written for editors of early modern plays. Encoding the sonnets has necessitated some adjustments.</p>
</div>

Adding a Byline

Some critical paratexts, particularly acknowledgements, invite a closing byline. In such cases, place your byline after the final paragraph and wrap it in the <byline> element.
<byline>Joost Daalder, Flinders University, Adelaide</byline>

Special Case: Critical Paratexts with Further Reading Lists

In some cases (to be discussed with your anthology lead), you may wish to include a Further Reading section at the end of a critical paratext. One use case is the encyclopedia entries in the EMEE anthology. In this case, you will add a <back> element after the <body> element.
In the <back> element, include a <listBibl> with child <bibl> elements. Normally, you will use the @corresp to point to an item in LEMDO’s site-wide bibliography, in which case <bibl> will be self-closing and not have a text node. (See Introduction to Bibliographies and Citations If you want to direct readers to online sources that are not in LEMDO’s site-wide bibliography or to specific pages in digital sources, then include the information in the text node of the <bibl> element.2

Divisions in Critical Paratexts

Rationale

In the digital environment, dividing essays into sections is even more important than in the print environment. You can make links to the sections in your critical paratexts from other files and from the annotations and collations in your edition. The section headers are used by LEMDO’s processing to create a table of contents for the document.

Practice

In the <body> element of your critical paratext, insert as many <div> elements as you have sections. Close each <div> before you open a new <div> , unless you intend to create subsections. Note that LEMDO does not recommend deeply nested subsections. Aim to have sections with one level of subsection at most. Remember that you can create tables and lists, which might be better ways to present nested information.
Every <div> must have an @xml:id attribute with a human-readable value. Give each <div> a child <head> element that contains the title of the section. The content of these <head> elements will appear in the linked table of contents that LEMDO generates for your document.

Examples

If your Stage History critical paratext has an introductory section, you might call it Introduction:
<div xml:id="emdH5_stageHistory_intro">
  <head>Introduction</head>
  <!-- Paragraphs follow. -->
</div>

Notes and Citations in Critical Paratexts

Introductory content goes here, if any.

Rationale

LEMDO uses a modified version of MLA 7 for citations and notes in critical paratext. Quotations from, paraphrases of, allusions to, and mentions of secondary sources are followed by parentheses containing the author’s name and the page number or range. These parenthetical reference are encoded in such a way that they link to entries on LEMDO’s site-wide bibliography and can be processed into pop-up citations.
Use notes for digressions, state-of-the-art summaries (i.e., quick overviews of the literature), and elaborations that would otherwise interrupt or delay the unfolding of your argument. Use parenthetical references inside notes to give credit to secondary sources.
Note that quotations from your own modern or semi-diplomatic transcriptions are handled via a different mechanism, as are links to other parts of your edition. See Encode Pointer Links and Encoding Links Between Parts of Your Edition.

Practice

Place the parenthetical reference at the end of the clause containing the quotation or mention or at the end of the sentence. Use your discretion about placement, following these two principles: (1) the reference must be unambiguous in its referent; and (2) it must be minimally disruptive to the prose. Consult with your anthology lead about anthology-specific practices.
If you include the author’s name in your prose and the parenthetical reference clearly refers back to the author, you may omit the author’s name from your parenthetical reference and simply give the page number(s). You may also choose to include the author’s name on the grounds that a longer string is easier for users to click on. Consult with your anthology lead about anthology-specific practices.
Use an en dash between numbers in a range (a practice on which MLA is silent and on which we have elected to follow Chicago). If you are working in LEMDO’s Oxygen project (lemdo-all.xpr), you will be able to add an en dash by typing Ctrl+Shift+Space (Command+Shift+Space on a Mac) and selecting the en dash from the drop-down menu.
Tag the contents of the parenthesis (but not the two parenthesis markers) with a <ref> element. Add the @type attribute with the value bibl. Add a @target attribute with a value beginning with bibl:. See Encode Citations for more detailed information on this practice.
If you refer in a general way to a publication and do not need to give page numbers, you may put your <ref> element on the author’s name in your running prose. See sample reference to Richmond Barbour in the Examples.
If you want to add a note, open a <note> element at the point where you want the note marker to appear. Punctuation affects note placement; if you want to put a note at the end of a clause or subordinate clause, you will put the <note> element after a comma, period, question mark, or exclamation point but before a semi-colon or colon. Add the @type attribute with the value editorial. These notes will be processed into numbers that the user can click on in the digital environment; in the printed Hornbooks, they will appear at the bottom of the page.
Notes may contain parenthetical citations in a <ref> element. Follow the same practices for references in notes as in running prose.

Examples

<p><!-- paragraph begins --> Dekker’s entertainment still remains focused upon promoting the livery company, in this case the Ironmongers, which were facing diminishing prowess (<ref type="bibl" target="bibl:HILL6">Hill 17-18</ref>). <!-- paragraph continues --></p>
3
<p><!-- paragraph begins -->
  <ref type="bibl" target="bibl:BARB4">Richmond Barbour</ref> has similarly suggested that the early modern English represented the east in fictional plays, poems, prose using a variety of proto Orientalist tropes that together served to other their Muslim characters.<!-- paragraph continues --></p>
4
<p>Given that the speeches would have been difficult for many of the show’s attendees to hear,<note type="editorial">Audiences’ capacity to hear and absorb the speeches has been a subject of debate. Some scholars have assumed that the speeches, which directly address the lord mayor, would have been lost on the crowd (see for example <ref type="bibl" target="bibl:KLEI2">Klein 20</ref> and <ref type="bibl" target="bibl:ROBE8">Robertson and Gordon xlii</ref>). Others, however, argue that these shows were meant not solely for one <quote>noble visitor</quote> (<ref type="bibl" target="bibl:KIPL2">Kipling 42</ref>), but were written to resonate with a socially capacious audience; see for example Wickham, who proposes that the actors <quote>performed to two distinct audiences simultaneously</quote> (<ref type="bibl" target="bibl:WICK1">Wickham Vol. 1., 59</ref>). Kara Northway in particular contends that the speeches were written to stimulate general interest in the <quote>betterment of the country </quote> through the cultivation of virtues such as <quote>industry</quote> (<ref type="bibl" target="bibl:NORT4">176</ref>).</note> the visual elements of the production are important to piecing together a sense of the performance. <!-- paragraph continues --></p>
5

Further information

For further information about using the <ref> element to cite sources, see:
While you are learning about how to cite sources, you will also want to learn how to encode short and long quotations. See:
The following pages deal with common practices in citation, such as omitting material from long quotations, dealing with quotations within quotations, and quoting from non-English sources:

Create Tables in Critical Paratexts

Rationale

Tables are an effective way of presenting data in critical paratexts. Consider using a table whenever you have structured data that lends itself to dynamic sorting and visual scanning. LEMDO editors have used tables to present chronologies, capture key textual variants in textual introductions, record witness information, record production credits for performance-as-research productions, and present lineation differences between witnesses.

Practice

A table is contained within a <table> element. You may add an optional child <head> element if you want to give your table a title. Every row of the table is captured in a <row> element. Each column of the row is captured in a child <cell> element. Note that every <row> element must have the same number of <cell> children. You will get a validation error if you forget a <cell> element. If you mean to leave a column empty for a particular row, just use an empty <cell> element (i.e., <cell/>).
If the first row of the table gives column headings, add a @role attribute to the <row> element with the value label. Subsequent rows can have an optional @role attribute with the value data. Note that LEMDO assumes that rows without the @role attribute are data rows.

Special Case: Give Your Table a Heading

You may want to give your table a specific heading. There are two ways to give your table a heading. Each is appropriate for a different context:
If your table is the only thing in a section (i.e., your <table> element should not have any sibling elements): Wrap your <table> element in a <div> element. Give the <div> a child <head> element and type the heading in its text node.
If your table is one of many things in a section (i.e., your <table> has sibling elements—most commonly <p> elements): Put a <head> element as a child of <table> and type the heading in its text node.

Template Table

<table>
  <row role="label">
    <cell/>
    <cell/>
    <cell/>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell/>
    <cell/>
    <cell/>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell/>
    <cell/>
    <cell/>
  </row>
</table>

Examples

Example table with no heading:
<table>
  <row role="label">
    <cell>Q1</cell>
    <cell>Q2</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>deadst</cell>
    <cell>midst</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>cap</cell>
    <cell>cup</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>the</cell>
    <cell>thy</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>it</cell>
    <cell>her</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>the</cell>
    <cell>thy</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>haunts</cell>
    <cell>hurts</cell>
  </row>
</table>
Example table with a child <head> :
<table>
  <head>1HW 1.5</head>
  <row role="label">
    <cell>WLN</cell>
    <cell>Passage</cell>
    <cell>Note</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>558-559</cell>
    <cell>Nay … well</cell>
    <cell>possibly verse</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>560-561</cell>
    <cell>Pray … you</cell>
    <cell>prose in Q1-2(R)</cell>
  </row>
  <row role="data">
    <cell>586-588</cell>
    <cell>Look … quoth’a</cell>
    <cell>prose in Q1-2(R)</cell>
  </row>
</table>
Example of a table that is a child of <div> and has no siblings other than <head> :
<div>
  <head>Quarto 2</head>
  <table>
    <row role="label">
      <cell>Library</cell>
      <cell>Shelfmark</cell>
      <cell>Digital Surrogates</cell>
    </row>
    <row role="data" xml:id="emd2IYK_copies_Q2_BL">
      <cell>British Library</cell>
      <cell>644.e.30.(2.)</cell>
      <cell/>
    </row>
    <row role="data" xml:id="emd2IYK_copies_Q2_Glasgow">
      <cell>Glasgow University Library</cell>
      <cell>
        <ref target="https://eleanor.lib.gla.ac.uk/record=b1553680">Sp Coll BD1-f.22 (Euing Collection)</ref>
      </cell>
      <cell/>
    </row>
    <row role="data" xml:id="emd2IYK_copies_Q2_VA">
      <cell>Victoria and Albert Museum</cell>
      <cell>
        <ref target="https://nal-vam.on.worldcat.org/oclc/1008587785">FD.15.8</ref>
      </cell>
      <cell>n/a</cell>
    </row>
    <!-- … -->
  </table>
</div>

Number Paragraphs in Critical Paratexts

Rationale

Digital critical paratexts do not have page numbers. The basic citable unit of the critical paratext is the paragraph. We give xml:ids and numbers to paragraphs so that users can cite by paragraph number and link directly to paragraphs. Our processing uses the xml:ids to generate clickable paragraph numbers in the margins of the digital critical paratexts.

Practice

Number paragraphs continuously through the document. Do not restart numbering even if your document is divided into sections. (See Divisions in Critical Paratexts.)
Give each <p> element an @xmlid attribute. The value of the @xml:id attribute will be the name of the file + an underscore + p + a number.
If the file is emdH5_stageHistory.xml, the first paragraph would have the @xml:id value of emdH5_stageHistory_p1.

Examples

<body>
  <div xml:id="emdH5_stageHistory_intro">
    <head>Introduction</head>
    <p xml:id="emdH5_stageHistory_p1">Content of first paragraph.</p>
  </div>
  <div xml:id="emdH5_stageHistory_Globe">
    <head>At the Globe</head>
    <p xml:id="emdH5_stageHistory_p2">Content of second paragraph.</p>
    <p xml:id="emdH5_stageHistory_p3">Content of third paragraph.</p>
  </div>
</body>

Further Reading

Next, you will want to read Divisions in Critical Paratexts.

Notes

1.Note that LEMDO discourages extensive supplementary materials, preferring to include quotations from analogues, sources, and contextual materials in the General Introduction.↑
2.Links to specific pages in The Map of Early Modern London can be made using the mol: linking protocol. See London Toponyms.↑
3.Source: Mark Kaethler’s Critical Introduction to London’s Tempe ↑
4.Source: Kirk Melnikoff’s Critical Introduction to Selimus ↑
5.Source: Laurie Ellinghausen’s General Introduction to The Device of the Pageant ↑

Prosopography

Isabella Seales

Isabella Seales is a fourth year undergraduate completing her Bachelor of Arts in English at the University of Victoria. She has a special interest in Renaissance and Metaphysical Literature. She is assisting Dr. Jenstad with the MoEML Mayoral Shows anthology as part of the Undergraduate Student Research Award program.

Janelle Jenstad

Janelle Jenstad is a Professor of English at the University of Victoria, Director of The Map of Early Modern London, and Director of Linked Early Modern Drama Online. With Jennifer Roberts-Smith and Mark Kaethler, she co-edited Shakespeare’s Language in Digital Media: Old Words, New Tools (Routledge). She has edited John Stow’s A Survey of London (1598 text) for MoEML and is currently editing The Merchant of Venice (with Stephen Wittek) and Heywood’s 2 If You Know Not Me You Know Nobody for DRE. Her articles have appeared in Digital Humanities Quarterly, Elizabethan Theatre, Early Modern Literary Studies, Shakespeare Bulletin, Renaissance and Reformation, and The Journal of Medieval and Early Modern Studies. She contributed chapters to Approaches to Teaching Othello (MLA); Teaching Early Modern Literature from the Archives (MLA); Institutional Culture in Early Modern England (Brill); Shakespeare, Language, and the Stage (Arden); Performing Maternity in Early Modern England (Ashgate); New Directions in the Geohumanities (Routledge); Early Modern Studies and the Digital Turn (Iter); Placing Names: Enriching and Integrating Gazetteers (Indiana); Making Things and Drawing Boundaries (Minnesota); Rethinking Shakespeare Source Study: Audiences, Authors, and Digital Technologies (Routledge); and Civic Performance: Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London (Routledge). For more details, see janellejenstad.com.

Joey Takeda

Joey Takeda is LEMDO’s Consulting Programmer and Designer, a role he assumed in 2020 after three years as the Lead Developer on LEMDO.

Mahayla Galliford

Project manager, 2025-present; research assistant, 2021-present. Mahayla Galliford (she/her) graduated with a BA (Hons with distinction) from the University of Victoria in 2024. Mahayla’s undergraduate research explored early modern stage directions and civic water pageantry. Mahayla continues her studies through UVic’s English MA program and her SSHRC-funded thesis project focuses on editing and encoding girls’ manuscripts, specifically Lady Rachel Fane’s dramatic entertainments, in collaboration with LEMDO.

Martin Holmes

Martin Holmes has worked as a developer in the UVic’s Humanities Computing and Media Centre for over two decades, and has been involved with dozens of Digital Humanities projects. He has served on the TEI Technical Council and as Managing Editor of the Journal of the TEI. He took over from Joey Takeda as lead developer on LEMDO in 2020. He is a collaborator on the SSHRC Partnership Grant led by Janelle Jenstad.

Navarra Houldin

Training and Documentation Lead 2025–present. LEMDO project manager 2022–2025. Textual remediator 2021–present. Navarra Houldin (they/them) completed their BA with a major in history and minor in Spanish at the University of Victoria in 2022. Their primary research was on gender and sexuality in early modern Europe and Latin America. They are continuing their education through an MA program in Gender and Social Justice Studies at the University of Alberta where they will specialize in Digital Humanities.

Rylyn Christensen

Rylyn Christensen is an English major at the University of Victoria.

Tracey El Hajj

Junior Programmer 2019–2020. Research Associate 2020–2021. Tracey received her PhD from the Department of English at the University of Victoria in the field of Science and Technology Studies. Her research focuses on the algorhythmics of networked communications. She was a 2019–2020 President’s Fellow in Research-Enriched Teaching at UVic, where she taught an advanced course on Artificial Intelligence and Everyday Life. Tracey was also a member of the Map of Early Modern London team, between 2018 and 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, she was a fellow in residence at the Praxis Studio for Comparative Media Studies, where she investigated the relationships between artificial intelligence, creativity, health, and justice. As of July 2021, Tracey has moved into the alt-ac world for a term position, while also teaching in the English Department at the University of Victoria.

Bibliography

Barbour, Richmond. Before Orientalism: London’s Theatre of the East, 1576–1626. 1959. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003. WSB aal241.
Hill, Tracey. “To the Honour of our Nation abroad”: The Merchant as Adventurer in Civic Pageantry. Civic Performance: Pageantry and Entertainments in Early Modern London. Ed. J. Caitlin Finlayson and Amrita Sen. New York: Routledge, 2020. 13–31.
Kipling, Gordon. Triumphal Drama: Form in English Civic Pageantry. Renaissance Drama, New Series 8 (1977): 37–56.
Klein, Bernhard. Between the Bums and Bellies of the Multitude: Civic Pageantry and the Problem of the Audience in Late Stuart London. London Journal 17.1 (1992): 18–26.
Northway, Kara. “To Kindle an Industrious Desire”: The Poetry of Work in Lord Mayors’ Shows. Comparative Drama 41.2 (2007): 167–192. DOI: 10.1353/cdr.2007.0021.
Robertson, Jean, and D.J. Gordon, eds. Collections, Vol. III: A Calendar of Dramatic Records in the Books of the Livery Companies of London, 1485–1640. Oxford: Malone Society, 1954.
Wickham, Glynne. Early English Stages 1300 to 1660. 3 vols. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul; rpt. New York: Columbia University Press, 1959–1981.

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Authority title Chapter 16. Critical Paratexts
Type of text Documentation
Publisher Linked Early Modern Drama
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