Provenance Provenance Provenance (from the French "provenir", 'to come from/forth') is the chronology of the ownership, custody or location of a historical object. The term was originally mostly used in relation to works of art but is now used in similar senses in a wide range of fields, including archaeology, paleontology, archives, manuscripts, printed books and science and computing. The primary purpose of tracing the provenance of an object or entity is normally to provide contextual and circumstantial evidence for its original production or discovery, by establishing, as far as practicable, its later history, especially the sequences of its formal ownership,
To be, or not to be to others that we know not of.<br> Aye that, O this conscience makes cowards of us all,<br> Lady in thy orizons, be all my sins remembered. The text of the Second Quarto (Q2) is considered the earliest version of the play. In Q2 the whole nunnery scene including 'To be' takes place later in the play than in Q1 where it occurs directly after Claudius and Polonius have planned it and the addition of "Soft you now", suggesting that Hamlet has not (or is feigning having not) seen Ophelia thus far during his speech. To be, or not to be,