BOOK V

PLAYS AND PLAYWRIGHTS

Tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individable or poem unlimited.--_Hamlet._

XXII

THE PRINTING OF PLAYS

[_Bibliographical Note._--The records of the Stationers’ Company were utilized by W. Herbert in _Typographical Antiquities_ (1785–90), based on an earlier edition (1749) by J. Ames, and revised, but not for the period most important to us, by T. F. Dibdin (1810–19). They are now largely available at first hand in E. Arber, _Transcript of the Registers of the Stationers’ Company, 1554–1640_ (1875–94), and G. E. B. Eyre, _Transcript of the Registers of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, 1640–1708_ (1913–14). Recent investigations are to be found in the _Transactions_ and other publications of the Bibliographical Society, and in the periodicals _Bibliographica_ and _The Library_. The best historical sketches are H. R. Plomer, _A Short History of English Printing_ (1900), E. G. Duff, _The Introduction of Printing into England_ (1908, _C. H._ ii. 310), H. G. Aldis, _The Book-Trade, 1557–1625_ (1909, _C. H._ iv. 378), and R. B. McKerrow, _Booksellers, Printers, and the Stationers’ Trade_ (1916, _Sh. England_, ii. 212). Of somewhat wider range is H. G. Aldis, _The Printed Book_ (1916). Records of individual printers are in E. G. Duff, _A Century of the English Book Trade, 1457–1557_ (1905), R. B. McKerrow, _Dictionary of Printers and Booksellers, 1557–1640_ (1910), and H. R. Plomer, _Dictionary of Booksellers and Printers, 1641–67_ (1907). Special studies of value are R. B. McKerrow, _Printers and Publishers’ Devices_ (1913), and _Notes on Bibliographical Evidence for Literary Students_ (1914). P. Sheavyn, _The Literary Profession in the Elizabethan Age_ (1909), is not very accurate. The early history of the High Commission (1558–64) is studied in H. Gee, _The Elizabethan Clergy and the Settlement of Religion_ (1898). The later period awaits fuller treatment than that in _An Account of the Courts Ecclesiastical_ by W. Stubbs in the _Report of the Commission on Ecclesiastical Courts_ (1883), i. 21. J. S. Burn, _The High Commission_ (1865), is scrappy.

For plays in particular, W. W. Greg, _List of English Plays_ (1900), gives the title-pages, and Arber the registration entries. Various problems are discussed by A. W. Pollard, _Shakespeare Folios and Quartos_ (1909) and _Shakespeare’s Fight with the Pirates_ (1917, ed. 2, 1920), and in connexion with the Shakespearian quartos of 1619 (cf. ch. xxiii). New ground is opened by A. W. Pollard and J. D. Wilson, _The ‘Stolne and Surreptitious’ Shakespearian Texts_ (_T. L. S._ Jan.–Aug. 1919), and J. D. Wilson, _The Copy for Hamlet, 1603, and the Hamlet Transcript, 1593_ (1918). Other studies are C. Dewischeit, _Shakespeare und die Stenographie_ (1898, _Jahrbuch_, xxxiv. 170), B. A. P. van Dam and C. Stoffel, _William Shakespeare, Prosody and Text_ (1900), _Chapters in English Printing, Prosody, and Pronunciation_ (1902), P. Simpson, _Shakespearian Punctuation_ (1911), E. M. Albright, ‘_To be Staied_’ (1915, _M. L. A._ xxx. 451; cf. _M. L. N._, Feb. 1919), A. W. Pollard, _Ad Imprimendum Solum_ (1919, _3 Library_, x. 57), H. R. Shipheard, _Play-Publishing in Elizabethan Times_ (1919, _M. L. A._ xxxiv. 580); M. A. Bayfield, _Shakespeare’s Versification_ (1920); cf. _T. L. S._ (1919–20).

The nature of stage-directions is considered in many works on staging (cf. _Bibl. Note_ to ch. xviii), and in N. Delius, _Die Bühnenweisungen in den alten Shakespeare-Ausgaben_ (1873, _Jahrbuch_, viii. 171), R. Koppel, _Scenen-Einteilung und Orts-Angaben in den Shakespeareschen Dramen_ (1874, _Jahrbuch_, ix. 269), _Die unkritische Behandlung dramaturgischer Angaben und Anordnungen in den Shakespeare-Ausgaben_ (1904, _E. S._ xxxiv. 1). The documents printed by Arber are so fundamental as to justify a short description. Each of his vols. i-iv gives the text, or most of the text, of four books, lettered A-D in the Company’s archives, interspersed with illustrative documents from other sources; vol. v consists of indices. Another series of books, containing minutes of the Court of Assistants from 1603 onwards, remains unprinted (ii. 879). Book A contains the annual accounts of the wardens from 1554 to 1596. The Company’s year began on varying dates in the first half of July. From 1557 to 1571 the accounts include detailed entries of the books for which fees were received and of the fines imposed upon members of the Company for irregularities. Thereafter they are abstracts only, and reference is made for the details of fees to ‘the register in the clarkes booke’ (i. 451). Unfortunately this book is not extant for 1571–6. After the appointment of Richard Collins in place of George Wapull as clerk in 1575, a new ‘booke of entrances’ was bought for the clerk (i. 475). This is Book B, which is divided into sections for records of different character, including book entries for 1576–95, and fines for 1576–1605. There are also some decrees and ordinances of the Court, most of which Arber does not print, and a few pages of miscellaneous memoranda at the beginning and end (ii. 33–49, 884–6). Book C , bought ‘for the entrance of copies’ in 1594–5 (i. 572), has similar memoranda (iii. 35–8, 677–98). It continues the book entries, and these alone, for 1595–1620.