BeornsHall
I've written a trilogy called "The Dark Side of Shakespeare" (Vol. I 2002, II 2003, & III due out Spring 2012). My website (http://home.earthlink.net/~beornshall/index DOT html/) has more info. In Vol. II, Appen. F, I discuss the phenomenon that there seems to have been a cozy relationship between Anthony Munday and nearly all of the printers and publishers of publishing projects related to Shakespeare (Sh). For example, Munday's 1623 translation of "Theatre of Knighthood and Honour," commissioned by the Privy Council, was printed by Wm. Jaggard's printing house at the same time as it printed the Sh F1, even on the same presses. Just as early copies of the F1 were signed for the printer by Jaggard, but later ones after his death by his son Isaac, early copies of Theatre were signed by Jaggard, but later ones by Munday's A.M. And of the two projects, Theatre was undoubtedly the greater prestige one of that year.
In my Appen. F is a table of nearly all the Sh stationers to 1632, showing that each had Munday projects as well. It was as if the stationers, even the pirates, had to go through Munday to get to Sh (or, alternatively, to get rights to Munday's lucrative projects, stationers had to accept Sh projects as part of the package?). So, Munday may have been a conduit for the Sh works among other projects?
Another related matter is that Munday's apprenticeship as a Printer wasn't formally ended in 1584 because of the death of his master, John Allde. However, since he was able to claim to be a member of the allied Draper's company by patrimony, he may have been able to function informally (secretly?) as a Stationer as well. Notably, quite a few Drapers transitioned to be Printers or Publishers (e.g., Smethwick, Pavier), and the same was true for Grocers (e.g., Charlewood) which was another trade Munday once claimed allegiance to. I've discovered several projects in which the Stationer's Registry (SR) entries or the dedications to the Reader described Munday as "publisher" (perhaps meaning "editor?"), and several (like Theatre) in which he even seems to have gotten credit somewhat as printer. So, it has occurred to me that perchance Munday was operating a sort of "Elliott's Court Press" operation clandestinely in which he'd present his stationer partners with already blocked and set projects, ready for them to put on their own presses during curfew hours or on Sundays and holidays. For this he would have of course privately used available unemployed or underemployed Printer journeymen.
Certainly, at least from c.1586-c.1604, in his capacity of "Messenger At Her Maiesties Chamber," in which he served the Archbishop, Deputy Lord Chamberlain, and the Queen's Torture Master by hunting down and arresting extremist Catholics and Puritans both, he had the capacity and contacts to do what I've suggested above.
Does anyone have insights into what I've proposed here?
W. Ron Hess (BeornsHall@earthlink.net)
In my Appen. F is a table of nearly all the Sh stationers to 1632, showing that each had Munday projects as well. It was as if the stationers, even the pirates, had to go through Munday to get to Sh (or, alternatively, to get rights to Munday's lucrative projects, stationers had to accept Sh projects as part of the package?). So, Munday may have been a conduit for the Sh works among other projects?
Another related matter is that Munday's apprenticeship as a Printer wasn't formally ended in 1584 because of the death of his master, John Allde. However, since he was able to claim to be a member of the allied Draper's company by patrimony, he may have been able to function informally (secretly?) as a Stationer as well. Notably, quite a few Drapers transitioned to be Printers or Publishers (e.g., Smethwick, Pavier), and the same was true for Grocers (e.g., Charlewood) which was another trade Munday once claimed allegiance to. I've discovered several projects in which the Stationer's Registry (SR) entries or the dedications to the Reader described Munday as "publisher" (perhaps meaning "editor?"), and several (like Theatre) in which he even seems to have gotten credit somewhat as printer. So, it has occurred to me that perchance Munday was operating a sort of "Elliott's Court Press" operation clandestinely in which he'd present his stationer partners with already blocked and set projects, ready for them to put on their own presses during curfew hours or on Sundays and holidays. For this he would have of course privately used available unemployed or underemployed Printer journeymen.
Certainly, at least from c.1586-c.1604, in his capacity of "Messenger At Her Maiesties Chamber," in which he served the Archbishop, Deputy Lord Chamberlain, and the Queen's Torture Master by hunting down and arresting extremist Catholics and Puritans both, he had the capacity and contacts to do what I've suggested above.
Does anyone have insights into what I've proposed here?
W. Ron Hess (BeornsHall@earthlink.net)