Nearly as much has been written about the text of Hamlet as has been written on the play's meaning. I would like to here just briefly summarize the issues. Hamlet was first published in quarto in 1603, but it is almost universally conceded that this was an unauthorized printing perhaps from a shorthand copy made during a performance. Interestingly, the existence of Q1 was not known until the early 19th century, and today only two copies are extant. Another more reliable quarto of the play was printed in 1604. Over the next several years three more editions of the quarto were published; two before F and one afterward.

Most scholars agree that there was a version of Hamlet that existed before Shakespeare became interested in the play. It is commonly referred to as the Ur-Hamlet, and although no copy of this play has ever been located, there were several contemporary references to it in the late 1580s and mid 1590s and it is speculated that it may have been written by Thomas Kyd. For a time it was thought that Q1 represented an evolution of Hamlet.That is to say that Q1 was a reworking of Ur-Hamlet and Q2 is the final product. In this way scholars believed they had a rare glimpse of the bard at work. Unfortunately, it has been proven conclusively that this is not the case. Q1 is an abridgement of Q2 and simply printed earlier, before Shakespeare and his company of actors were willing to authorize publication of the play.

The differences between Q1 and Q2 are substantial. Q1 has 2154 lines while Q2 has 3723. It is not that scenes or characters have been omitted, but simply that speeches have been shortened, in many cases drastically shortened. Thus it is thought that not only is this an abridged and unauthorized copy, but that it is probably the result of a shortened performance version, perhaps prepared for a touring company. However there are other differences as well. ...