Andrew Crooke and William Cooke
Encyclopedia
Andrew Crooke and William Cooke (died 1641?) were London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 publishers of the mid-17th-century. In partnership and individually, they issued significant texts of English Renaissance drama
English Renaissance theatre
English Renaissance theatre, also known as early modern English theatre, refers to the theatre of England, largely based in London, which occurred between the Reformation and the closure of the theatres in 1642...

, most notably of the plays of James Shirley
James Shirley
James Shirley was an English dramatist.He belonged to the great period of English dramatic literature, but, in Lamb's words, he "claims a place among the worthies of this period, not so much for any transcendent genius in himself, as that he was the last of a great race, all of whom spoke nearly...

.

Andrew Crooke was the son of a William Crooke, a yeoman of Kingston Blount, Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire
Oxfordshire is a county in the South East region of England, bordering on Warwickshire and Northamptonshire , Buckinghamshire , Berkshire , Wiltshire and Gloucestershire ....

. On 26 March 1629, Andrew Crooke won his "freedom" of the Stationers Company
Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers
The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was founded in 1403; it received a Royal Charter in 1557...

 — that is to say, he gained full membership in the guild of London booksellers, publishers, and printers — and in time "became one of the leading publishers of his day." Perhaps his most notable solo achievements were the 1640
1640 in literature
The year 1640 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 21 - Salmacida Spolia, a masque written by Sir William Davenant and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace — the final royal masque of the Caroline era.*March 17 - Henry Burnell's play Landgartha...

 publication of the second edition of Ben Jonson
Ben Jonson
Benjamin Jonson was an English Renaissance dramatist, poet and actor. A contemporary of William Shakespeare, he is best known for his satirical plays, particularly Volpone, The Alchemist, and Bartholomew Fair, which are considered his best, and his lyric poems...

's 1616 folio
Ben Jonson folios
The folio collections of Ben Jonson's works published in the seventeenth century were crucial developments in the publication of English literature and English Renaissance drama. The first folio collection, issued in 1616, treated stage plays as serious works of literature instead of popular...

, and his editions of the Religio Medici
Religio Medici
Religio Medici is a book by Sir Thomas Browne, which sets out his spiritual testament as well as being an early psychological self-portrait. In its day, the book was a European best-seller and brought its author fame and respect throughout the continent...

of Sir Thomas Browne
Thomas Browne
Sir Thomas Browne was an English author of varied works which reveal his wide learning in diverse fields including medicine, religion, science and the esoteric....

. (Of the latter, Crooke published two unauthorized editions in 1642, and the authorized and corrected edition of 1643, plus subsequent editions in 1645, 1648, 1656, 1659, 1669, and 1672).

William Cooke was a contemporary of Crooke; he began operating as a publisher in 1632. Cooke specialized in the publication of law books. Crooke tended more toward literature and general-interest works; he produced books like Sir Henry Blount's A Voyage to the Levant (1636
1636 in literature
The year 1636 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*January 31 - The King's Men perform Shakespeare's Julius Caesar at St. James's Palace.*February - James Shirley's The Duke's Mistress is performed at St...

), Richard Corbet
Richard Corbet
Richard Corbet was an English bishop in the Church of England. He was also a poet of the metaphysical school who, although highly praised in his own lifetime, is relatively obscure today.-Life:...

's Certain Elegant Poems (1639
1639 in literature
The year 1639 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*May 21 - The King's Men act John Fletcher's The Mad Lover.*Blaise Pascal's family move to Rouen.*François de La Mothe-Le-Vayer is elected to the Académie Française....

), and John Bate's The Mysteries of Nature and Art (1635
1635 in literature
The year 1635 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*February 22 - In Paris, the Académie française is founded.*May 6 - The King's Men perform Othello at the Blackfriars Theatre.*Birth of René Descartes' daughter, Francine....

). Cooke's shop was near Furnival's Inn
Furnival's Inn
Furnival's Inn was an Inn of Chancery which formerly stood on the site of the present Holborn Bars building in Holborn, London, England.-History:...

 Gate in Holborn
Holborn
Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...

; Crooke kept his at the sign of the Green Dragon in St. Paul's
St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral, London, is a Church of England cathedral and seat of the Bishop of London. Its dedication to Paul the Apostle dates back to the original church on this site, founded in AD 604. St Paul's sits at the top of Ludgate Hill, the highest point in the City of London, and is the mother...

 Churchyard.

Each man also operated with other partners for some projects, and worked alone on others. Crooke sometimes partnered with colleague Gabriell Bedell. Cooke partnered with Matthew Walbancke for Sir Henry Spelman
Henry Spelman
Sir Henry Spelman was an English antiquary, noted for his detailed collections of medieval records, in particular of church councils.-Life:...

's De Sepultura (1641).

Yet the partnership of Crooke and Cooke earned its greatest distinction in publishing first editions of plays, particularly those of James Shirley. They issued:
  • The Example
    The Example
    The Example is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley, first published in 1637. The play has repeatedly been acclaimed both as one of Shirley's best comedies and one of the best works of its generation...

    ,
    1637
  • The Gamester
    The Gamester
    The Gamester is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy of manners written by James Shirley, premiered in 1633 and first published in 1637. The play is noteworthy for its realistic and detailed picture of gambling in its era....

    ,
    1637
  • Hyde Park
    Hyde Park (play)
    Hyde Park is a Caroline era comedy of manners written by James Shirley, and first published in 1637.Hyde Park was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on April 20, 1632, and acted at the Cockpit Theatre by Queen Henrietta's Men...

    ,
    1637
  • The Lady of Pleasure
    The Lady of Pleasure
    The Lady of Pleasure is a Caroline era comedy of manners written by James Shirley, first published in 1637. It has often been cited as among the best, and sometimes as the single best, the "most brilliant," of the dramatist's comic works....

    ,
    1637
  • The Young Admiral
    The Young Admiral
    The Young Admiral is a Caroline era tragicomedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1637. It has often been considered Shirley's best tragicomedy, and one of his best plays....

    ,
    1637
  • The Duke's Mistress
    The Duke's Mistress
    The Duke's Mistress is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by James Shirley and first published in 1638. It was the last of Shirley's plays produced before the major break in his career: with the closing of the London theatres due to bubonic plague in May 1636, Shirley left England for...

    1638
  • The Ball
    The Ball
    The Ball is a Caroline comedy by James Shirley, first performed in 1632 and first published in 1639.The Ball was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on November 16, 1632...

    ,
    1639
  • The Tragedy of Chabot, Admiral of France
    The Tragedy of Chabot, Admiral of France
    The Tragedy of Chabot, Admiral of France is an early seventeenth-century play, generally judged to be a work of George Chapman, later revised by James Shirley...

    ,
    1639
  • The Coronation
    The Coronation (play)
    The Coronation is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by James Shirley, and notable for the tug-of-war of authorship claims in which it was involved in the middle seventeenth century....

    ,
    1640
  • The Night Walker
    The Night Walker
    The Night Walker, or The Little Thief is an early seventeenth-century stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher and later revised by his younger contemporary James Shirley. It was first published in 1640.-Authorship:...

    ,
    1640
  • The Opportunity
    The Opportunity
    The Opportunity is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley, published in 1640. The play has been called "a capital little comedy, fairly bubbling over with clever situations and charming character."...

    ,
    1640.


They also published John Fletcher's
John Fletcher (playwright)
John Fletcher was a Jacobean playwright. Following William Shakespeare as house playwright for the King's Men, he was among the most prolific and influential dramatists of his day; both during his lifetime and in the early Restoration, his fame rivalled Shakespeare's...

 Wit Without Money
Wit Without Money
Wit Without Money is a Jacobean era stage play, a comedy written by John Fletcher, and first published in 1639.-Date and authorship:Scholars have dated the play to c. 1614, based on allusions to contemporary events — notably to the dragon that was reportedly seen in Sussex in August 1614...

in 1639.

In addition, Andrew Crooke issued plays apart from Cooke:
  • Henry Killigrew's The Conspiracy, 1638
  • Shirley's Love's Cruelty
    Love's Cruelty
    Love's Cruelty is a Caroline-era stage play, a tragedy written by James Shirley, and first published in 1640.The play was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on November 14, 1631. Like the majority of Shirley's dramas, it was acted by Queen Henrietta's Men at...

    ,
    1640
  • Robert Chamberlain's The Swaggering Damsel, 1640
  • Thomas Killigrew
    Thomas Killigrew
    Thomas Killigrew was an English dramatist and theatre manager. He was a witty, dissolute figure at the court of King Charles II of England.-Life and work:...

    's The Prisoners
    The Prisoners (play)
    The Prisoners is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Killigrew. It was premiered onstage c. 1635, acted by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre; and was first printed in 1641...

    and Claricilla
    Claricilla
    Claricilla is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Thomas Killigrew. The drama was acted c. 1636 by Queen Henrietta's Men at the Cockpit Theatre, and first published in 1641...

    ,
    1641.


Most of the above plays were printed by Thomas Cotes
Thomas Cotes
Thomas Cotes was a London printer of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, best remembered for printing the Second Folio edition of Shakespeare's plays in 1632.-Life and work:...

, the man who printed the Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...

 Second Folio
Second Folio
Second Folio is the term applied to the 1632 edition of the works of William Shakespeare, following upon the First Folio of 1623.Much language was updated; there are almost 1,700 changes from the First Folio....

 in 1632
1632 in literature
The year 1632 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*On February 14, Tempe Restored, a masque written by Aurelian Townshend and designed by Inigo Jones, is performed at Whitehall Palace....

. There was a strong professional relationship between Crooke and Cotes. (Cooke usually employed other printers for his independently published plays, cited below.)

William Cooke also published some Shirley plays on his own:
  • The Bird in a Cage
    The Bird in a Cage
    The Bird in a Cage, or The Beauties is a Caroline era comedy written by James Shirley, first published in 1633. The play is notable, even among Shirley's plays, for its lushness — what one critic has called "gay romanticism run mad."-History:...

    ,
    1633
  • A Contention for Honor and Riches
    A Contention for Honor and Riches
    A Contention for Honor and Riches is a Caroline era stage play, a short drama or interlude written by James Shirley and first published in 1633...

    ,
    1633
  • The Witty Fair One
    The Witty Fair One
    The Witty Fair One is a Caroline era stage play, an early comedy by James Shirley. Critics have cited the play as indicative of the evolution of English comic drama from the humors comedy of Ben Jonson to the Restoration comedy of Wycherley and Congreve, and the comedy of manners that...

    ,
    1633
  • The Triumph of Peace
    The Triumph of Peace
    The Triumph of Peace was a Caroline era masque, "invented and written" by James Shirley, performed on February 3, 1634 and published the same year. The production was designed by Inigo Jones.-Inspiration:...

    ,
    1634
  • The Traitor, 1635
  • Love in a Maze
    Love in a Maze
    The Changes, or Love in a Maze is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy of manners written by James Shirley, first published in 1639. It was one of Shirley's most popular comedies, especially in the Restoration era...

    ,
    1639
  • The Maid's Revenge
    The Maid's Revenge
    The Maid's Revenge is an early Caroline era stage the play, the earliest extant tragedy by James Shirley. It was first published in 1639.The Maid's Revenge was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on February 9, 1626. It was the second of Shirley's plays to be...

    ,
    1639
  • The Humorous Courtier
    The Humorous Courtier
    The Humorous Courtier, also called The Duke, is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by James Shirley, first published in 1640....

    ,
    1640 (in partnership with James Becket).


Altogether, Crooke and Cooke published almost two-thirds of Shirley's lifetime dramatic output.

Cooke disappears from the historical record after 1641; his last known work was Sir Edward Coke
Edward Coke
Sir Edward Coke SL PC was an English barrister, judge and politician considered to be the greatest jurist of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras. Born into a middle class family, Coke was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge before leaving to study at the Inner Temple, where he was called to the...

's The Complete Copy-Holder (1641).

Crooke issued a second edition of Wit Without Money in 1661
1661 in literature
The year 1661 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* The Book of Kells is presented to Trinity College, Dublin.* Controversial author James Harrington is arrested on a charge of conspiracy....

. In 1659
1659 in literature
The year 1659 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* Andrew Marvell becomes a member of Parliament.* Méric Casaubon edits John Dee's journal of angel magic.-New books:*Richard Baxter - The Holy Commonwealth...

, Crooke partnered with stationer Henry Brome (his shop was at the sign of the Gun in Ivy Lane) to issue a volume of Richard Brome
Richard Brome
Richard Brome was an English dramatist of the Caroline era.-Life:Virtually nothing is known about Brome's private life. Repeated allusions in contemporary works, like Ben Jonson's Bartholomew Fair, indicate that Brome started out as a servant of Jonson, in some capacity...

's dramas called Five New Plays; the collection contained The English Moor
The English Moor
The English Moor, or the Mock Marriage is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome, noteworthy in its use of the stage device of blackface make-up...

, The Lovesick Court
The Lovesick Court
The Lovesick Court, or the Ambitious Politique is a Caroline-era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Richard Brome, and first published in 1659.-Publication:...

, The Weeding of Covent Garden
The Weeding of Covent Garden
The Weeding of the Covent Garden, or the Middlesex Justice of Peace, alternatively titled The Covent Garden Weeded, is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome that was first published in 1659...

, The New Academy
The New Academy
The New Academy, or the New Exchange is a Caroline era stage play, a comedy written by Richard Brome. It was first printed in 1659.-Performance and publication:...

, and The Queen and Concubine
The Queen and Concubine
The Queen and Concubine is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by Richard Brome and first published in 1659. It has sometimes been called Brome's best tragicomedy.-Publication and date:...

.

Crooke maintained personal relationships with other publishers and printers: Richard Cotes, brother of Thomas Cotes, left Crooke a bequest in his 1653 last will and testament, and bookseller John Parker left Crooke a memorial ring in his 1648 will. Crooke himself left no will when he died in the autumn of 1674; administration of his estate was granted to his widow on October 15 of that year.

Crooke had business and family connections in Dublin, the city where Shirley operated in the 1637–40 era. Crooke's nephew, another Andrew Crooke, served as "His Majesty's printer and bookseller" in Dublin from 1693 until his death in 1732. (This later Andrew Crooke, "the second," once sued his own mother in a business dispute.) In an odd coincidence of history, Andrew Crooke II had an apprentice named William Cooke, who eventually set up shop as a printer and bookseller in Chester
Chester
Chester is a city in Cheshire, England. Lying on the River Dee, close to the border with Wales, it is home to 77,040 inhabitants, and is the largest and most populous settlement of the wider unitary authority area of Cheshire West and Chester, which had a population of 328,100 according to the...

, where he published The Chester Weekly Journal.

See also

  • Robert Allot
    Robert Allot
    Robert Allot was a London bookseller and publisher of the early Caroline era; his shop was at the sign of the black bear in St. Paul's Churchyard...

  • William Aspley
    William Aspley
    William Aspley was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras. He was a member of the publishing syndicates that issued the First Folio and Second Folio collections of Shakespeare's plays, in 1623 and 1632.-Career:...

  • Edward Blount
    Edward Blount
    Edward Blount was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras, noted for his publication, in conjunction with William and Isaac Jaggard, of the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays in 1623....

  • Cuthbert Burby
    Cuthbert Burby
    Cuthbert Burby was a London bookseller and publisher of the Elizabethan and early Jacobean eras. He is remembered for publishing a series of significant volumes of English Renaissance drama, including works by William Shakespeare, Robert Greene, John Lyly, and Thomas Nashe.-Beginnings:Burby...

  • Walter Burre
    Walter Burre
    Walter Burre was a London bookseller and publisher of the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras, best remembered for publishing several key texts in English Renaissance drama....

  • Philip Chetwinde
    Philip Chetwinde
    Philip Chetwinde was a seventeenth-century London bookseller and publisher, noted for his publication of the Third Folio of Shakespeare's plays.-A rough start:Chetwinde was originally a clothworker...

  • Francis Constable
    Francis Constable
    Francis Constable was a London bookseller and publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, noted for publishing a number of stage plays of English Renaissance drama....

  • Richard Field
    Richard Field (printer)
    Richard Field was a printer and publisher in Elizabethan London, best known for his close association with the poems of William Shakespeare, with whom he grew up in Stratford-upon-Avon.-Life and career:...


  • Richard Hawkins
    Richard Hawkins (publisher)
    Richard Hawkins was a London publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras. He was a member of the syndicate that published the Second Folio collection of Shakespeare's plays in 1632...

  • Henry Herringman
    Henry Herringman
    Henry Herringman was a prominent London bookseller and publisher in the second half of the 17th century. He is especially noted for his publications in English Renaissance drama and English Restoration drama; he was the first publisher of the works of John Dryden...

  • William Jaggard
    William Jaggard
    William Jaggard was an Elizabethan and Jacobean printer and publisher, best known for his connection with the texts of William Shakespeare, most notably the First Folio of Shakespeare's plays...

  • John and Richard Marriot
    John and Richard Marriot
    John Marriot and his son Richard Marriot were prominent London publishers and booksellers in the seventeenth century. For a portion of their careers, the 1645–57 period, they were partners in a family business....

  • John Martyn
    John Martyn (publisher)
    John Martyn, or Martin, was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the second half of the 17th century.Martyn started in business in 1649, in partnership with John Ridley; their shop was at the sign of the Castle in Fleet Street, near Ram Alley. In 1651, Martyn began an independent...

  • Augustine Matthews
    Augustine Matthews
    Augustine Matthews was a printer in London in the Jacobean and Caroline eras. Among a wide variety of other work, Matthews printed notable texts in English Renaissance drama....

  • Richard Meighen
    Richard Meighen
    Richard Meighen was a London publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras. He is noted for his publications of plays of English Renaissance drama; he published the second Ben Jonson folio of 1640/1, and was a member of the syndicate that issued the Second Folio of Shakespeare's collected plays in...


  • Humphrey Moseley
    Humphrey Moseley
    Humphrey Moseley was a prominent London publisher and bookseller in the middle seventeenth century.Possibly a son of publisher Samuel Moseley, Humphrey Moseley became a "freeman" of the Stationers Company, the guild of London booksellers, on 7 May 1627; he was selected a Warden of the Company on...

  • William Ponsonby
    William Ponsonby (publisher)
    William Ponsonby was a prominent London publisher of the Elizabethan era. Active in the 1577–1603 period, Ponsonby published the works of Edmund Spenser, Sir Philip Sidney, and other members of the Sidney circle; he has been called "the leading literary publisher of Elizabethan...

  • Humphrey Robinson
    Humphrey Robinson
    Humphrey Robinson was a prominent London publisher and bookseller of the middle seventeenth century.Robinson was the son of a Bernard Robinson, a clerk from Carlisle; other members of his family were important clergymen and church office-holders. Humphrey Robinson became a "freeman" of the ...

  • John Smethwick
    John Smethwick
    John Smethwick was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras. Along with colleague William Aspley, Smethwick was one of the "junior partners" in the publishing syndicate that issued the First Folio collection of Shakespeare's plays in 1623. As his title pages specify, his...

  • William Stansby
    William Stansby
    William Stansby was a London printer and publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, working under his own name from 1610. One of the most prolific printers of his time, Stansby is best remembered for publishing the landmark first folio collection of the works of Ben Jonson in 1616.-Life:As for...

  • Thomas Thorpe
    Thomas Thorpe
    Thomas Thorpe was an English publisher, most famous for publishing Shakespeare's sonnets and several works by Christopher Marlowe and Ben Jonson. His publication of the sonnets has long been controversial...

  • Thomas Walkley
    Thomas Walkley
    Thomas Walkley was a London publisher and bookseller in the early and middle seventeenth century. He is noted for publishing a range of significant texts in English Renaissance drama, "and much other interesting literature."-Career:...

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