Since every elucidation needs a page-dot-line reference and since Finnegans Wake comes with only the pages numbered, Fweet has its own set of rules for numbering lines, which is not necessarily the same as used by other people (e.g. some number the lines of the opening pages of each chapter .13 to .36; many number chapter II.2 footnotes and marginalia by note instead of line; &c.). The Fweet way, which follows the modern Faber and Faber and Viking editions of Finnegans Wake (but not necessarily the modern Penguin and Wordsworth Classics editions (e.g. pp. 066-067, 547); use the "Variants" shorthand to see some of the differences between the editions), is outlined below.
| Rule | Finnegans Wake Pages Affected | |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Regular pages are numbered by line | ||
| 1.1 .01 to .36 | 004‑029, 031‑043, 049‑073, 076‑101, 105‑124, 127‑167, 170‑174, 176‑194, 197‑215, 220‑258, 310‑340, 343‑344, 347‑348, 351‑352, 354‑381, 384‑397, 404‑417, 420‑427, 430‑472, 475‑500, 502‑527, 529‑553, 556‑562, 564‑589, 594‑627 | |
| 1.2 or .01 to .37 | 528, 563 | |
| 2. Blank lines are never numbered | ||
| 2.1 whether they are at the top of the page | 003, 030, 048, 075, 104, 126, 169, 196, 219, 260, 309, 383, 403, 429, 474, 555, 593 | |
| 2.2 at the bottom of the page | 047, 074, 103, 125, 168, 195, 216, 259, 382, 428, 473, 554, 590, 628 | |
| 2.3 or in the middle of the page | 045‑047, 102‑103, 308, 341‑342, 345‑346, 349‑350, 353, 398‑399, 418‑419, 501, 628 | |
| 3. The components of chapter II.2 are all numbered by line | ||
| 3.1 main text being numbered .01 to ≤.36 | 260‑308 | |
| 3.2 footnotes being numbered .F01 to ≤.F37 | 260‑279, 281‑308 | |
| 3.3 left marginalia being numbered .L01 to ≤.L27 | 260‑278, 280‑287, 293‑308 | |
| 3.4 and right marginalia being numbered .R01 to ≤.R22 | 260‑262, 264, 266‑268, 270‑272, 275‑276, 278‑279, 281‑282, 286, 293, 300, 302‑306, 308 | |
| 4. Poems are numbered by verse, not by line | ||
| 4.1 when a line of a poem is clearly marked by some form of hanging indent to be a continuation of the previous line, it is considered part of the previous line and shares its number (i.e. a verse may appear on the page as a 2-, 3- or 4-line entity, but is still numbered by Fweet as a single line, as listed in the right-hand column of the table) |
045 (lines 25 & 28), 046 (lines 07, 17, 23 & 25), 175 (lines 07, 08, 10, 11, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 & 18), 383 (line 06), 398 (lines 32 & 33), 399 (lines 01, 02, 03, 04, 05, 06, 07, 08, 09, 11, 12, 13 & 16) |
|
| 5. Special cases deserve individual mention | ||
| 5.1 the musical score on page 44 is considered one line | 044 (line 25) | |
| 5.2 the musical score on page 272 is considered one line | 272 (line L02) | |
| 5.3 the figure on page 293 is considered one line | 293 (line 12) | |
| 5.4 the two figures on page 308 are considered two lines | 308 (lines L17 & L18) | |
| 5.5 the colophon on page 628 is considered two lines | 628 (lines 17 & 18) | |
| 5.6 unnumbered pages have no lines | 001‑002, 217‑218, 400‑402, 591‑592 | |
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