Recent studies in early modern cultural bibliography have put forth a radically new Shakespeare—a man of keen literary ambition who wrote for page as well as stage. His work thus comes to be viewed as textual property and a material object not only seen theatrically but also bought, read, collected, annotated, copied, and otherwise passed through human hands. This Shakespeare was invented in large part by the stationers—publishers, printers, and booksellers—who produced and distributed his texts in the form of books. Yet Shakespeare's stationers have not received sustained critical attention. Edited by Marta Straznicky, Shakespeare's Stationers: Studies in Cultural Bibliography shifts Shakespearean textual scholarship toward a new focus on the earliest publishers and booksellers of Shakespeare's texts. This seminal collection is the first to explore the multiple and intersecting forms of agency exercised by Shakespeare's stationers in the design, production, marketing, and dissemination of his printed works. Nine critical studies examine the ways in which commerce intersected with culture and how individual stationers engaged in a range of cultural functions and political movements through their business practices. Two appendices, cataloguing the imprints of Shakespeare's texts to 1640 and providing forty additional stationer profiles, extend the volume's reach well beyond the case studies, offering a foundation for further research.

This dictionary attempts in nearly 2,200 entries to cover all workers in the various branches of the Dublin book trade until the Act of Union in 1800. All grades of workers from apprentice to master, and papermakers, engravers, hawkers and other peripheral traders are considered, as well as the all-important printers and booksellers. Entries naturally vary from one or two lines to one or two pages in length. The aim is to illustrate the working life of each subject by reference to contemporary sources such as records of the stationer's Guild, state papers, imprints, newspaper advertisements, customers' accounts, etc, with documentation for each statement made. Entries will thus give practical clues to dating undated books, as well as provide a basis for further research into individual traders' work and the Dublin trade as a whole. Some account of the history and organization of the Dublin Guild of St Luke (cutlers, painter-stainers, and stationers) appears as introduction.

A look at copyright laws and practices through the ages.

Understanding Early Modern Primary Sources is an introduction to the rich treasury of source material available to students of early modern history. During this period, political development, economic and social change, rising literacy levels, and the success of the printing press, ensured that the State, the Church and the people generated texts and objects on an unprecedented scale. This book introduces students to the sources that survived to become indispensable primary material studied by historians. After a wide-ranging introductory essay, part I of the book, ‘Sources’, takes the reader through seven key categories of primary material, including governmental, ecclesiastical and legal records, diaries and literary works, print, and visual and material sources. Each chapter addresses how different types of material were produced, whilst also pointing readers towards the most important and accessible physical and digital source collections. Part II, ‘Histories’, takes a thematic approach. Each chapter in this section explores the sources that are used to address major early modern themes, including political and popular cultures, the economy, science, religion, gender, warfare, and global exploration. This collection of essays by leading historians in their respective fields showcases how practitioners research the early modern period, and is an invaluable resource for any student embarking on their studies of the early modern period.

This book discusses copyright protection of unpublished works including letters, diaries, manuscripts, photographs, memoranda, sketches, private journals, government records and drafts intended for future publication. Under contemporary British copyright law, unpublished works are protected by the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. In addition, the Berne Convention anticipates that unpublished works shall receive protection. While unpublished works are, in general, assimilated to the treatment of published ones, notable differences in the strength of protection afforded to published and unpublished works remain. It is the case that contemporary British copyright law confers stronger and longer protection on unpublished works. For instance, the unpublished status of a work assumes pivotal significance in the framework for determining: qualification for copyright protection, the extent of copyright protection, exceptions to copyright infringement and the remedies for copyright infringement. The principal aim of the book is to consider whether copyright in unpublished works is justified; a task which is prosecuted from historical, normative and legal perspectives. Although the book's primary focus is the treatment of unpublished works in Britain, it also relies extensively on materials from other Common Law jurisdictions. The book contributes to the understanding of why cumulative protection of unpublished works emerged, and how exceptions to rights in unpublished works evolved. Moreover, the analysis deployed in the book aids the task of applying the law to 'new circumstances'.

Based on three lectures given by Professor Richard Proudfoot in October 1999 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of The Globe, The Arden Shakespeare's centenary and Professor Proudfoot's retirement from King's College; this enjoyable volume aims to give a general and non-specialist audience some sense of what scholarship has achieved in three critical areas of Shakespeare studies at the end of the twentieth century. Freshly and engagingly written, this lively volume will appeal to all those with an interest in Shakespeare studies.