Thomas Dring
Encyclopedia
Thomas Dring was a London publisher and bookseller of the middle seventeenth century. He was in business from 1649 on; his shop (as his title pages indicate) was located "at the sign of the George in Fleet Street
, near St. Dunstan's Church
."
, Thomas Dring specialized in the publication of law books, but also issued works in a range of subjects including English Renaissance drama
. In the latter subject, his most significant single project was the Five New Plays of 1653
, an important collection of the dramas of Richard Brome
that Dring published in partnership with Humphrey Moseley
and Richard Marriot
. Dring also issued first or later editions of other plays of the period:
. In partnership again with Humphrey Moseley, Dring published Thomas Stanley
's important 3-volume History of Philosophy (1655–61). Independently, Dring issued Stanley's edition of Claudius Aelianus
(1665
). Dring produced other books of serious nonfiction, including the anonymous and rather startlingly-titled Modern Policies, Taken from Machiavel, Borgia, and Other Choice Authors (1652
).
As was commonly done in his era, Dring sometimes partnered with other stationers
for major projects (as with Moseley and Marriot, noted above). For Franz Schott's lavishly-illustrated Italy in Its Original Glory (1660
), Dring worked with John Place and Henry Twyford; for César de Rochefort's History of the Caribby Islands (1666
), Dring shared responsibility with John Starkey.
Though he generally maintained a respectable reputation, Dring's career also showed a few of the questionable involvements that were common among the stationers of his era. In 1650 he published Robert Baron's
Pocula Castalia. Baron was a notable plagiarist
; his 1650 verse collection consisted mainly of the work of John Milton
. In 1658 Dring published a work by "H. W." called The Accomplish'd Courtier, an unacknowledged translation of Eustache de Refuge
's Traicté de la Cour (1617
).
Dring's date of death is not known; his last will and testament was dated September 12, 1668, and was probated on December 21 of that year. He was survived by two sons, Thomas and Joshua.
In non-dramatic literature, the younger Dring's most notable book was arguably the 1673 second edition of Milton's shorter poems.
Fleet Street
Fleet Street is a street in central London, United Kingdom, named after the River Fleet, a stream that now flows underground. It was the home of the British press until the 1980s...
, near St. Dunstan's Church
St Dunstan-in-the-West
The Guild Church of St Dunstan-in-the-West is in Fleet Street in London, England. An octagonal-shaped building, it is dedicated to a former bishop of London and archbishop of Canterbury.-History:...
."
Drama
Much like his contemporary William CookeAndrew Crooke and William Cooke
Andrew Crooke and William Cooke were London publishers of the mid-17th-century. In partnership and individually, they issued significant texts of English Renaissance drama, most notably of the plays of James Shirley....
, Thomas Dring specialized in the publication of law books, but also issued works in a range of subjects including 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...
. In the latter subject, his most significant single project was the Five New Plays of 1653
1653 in literature
The year 1653 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* James Shirley's masque Cupid and Death is performed on March 26.* Pierre Corneille retires from the theatre for six years.* John Evelyn buys Sayes Court, Deptford....
, an important collection of the dramas 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...
that Dring published in partnership with 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...
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....
. Dring also issued first or later editions of other plays of the period:
- Walter Montague's masqueMasqueThe masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
The Shepherd's ParadiseThe Shepherd's ParadiseThe Shepherd's Paradise was a Caroline era masque, written by Walter Montagu and designed by Inigo Jones. Acted in 1633 by Queen Henrietta Maria and her ladies in waiting, it was noteworthy as the first masque in which the Queen and her ladies filled speaking roles...
, 1659 - Sir Robert Stapylton's The Slighted Maid, 1663
- James ShirleyJames ShirleyJames 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...
's Love TricksLove TricksLove Tricks, or The School of Complement is a Caroline stage play by James Shirley, his earliest known work.-Performance:Love Tricks was licensed for performance by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on February 10, 1625; it was performed by the Lady Elizabeth's Men at the Cockpit Theatre...
, 1667 (the 3rd edition) - Thomas MiddletonThomas MiddletonThomas Middleton was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. Middleton stands with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson as among the most successful and prolific of playwrights who wrote their best plays during the Jacobean period. He was one of the few Renaissance dramatists to achieve equal success in...
and William RowleyWilliam RowleyWilliam Rowley was an English Jacobean dramatist, best known for works written in collaboration with more successful writers. His date of birth is estimated to have been c. 1585; he was buried on 11 February 1626...
's The ChangelingThe Changeling (play)The Changeling is a Jacobean tragedy written by Thomas Middleton and William Rowley. Widely regarded as "among the best" tragedies of the English Renaissance, the play has accumulated a significant body of critical commentary....
, 1668 (2nd edition) - Thomas TomkisThomas TomkisThomas Tomkis was an English playwright of the late Elizabethan and the Jacobean eras, and arguably one of the more cryptic figures of English Renaissance drama....
's Albumazar, 1668 (5th edition).
Other works
Beyond the confines of drama, Dring issued volumes of poetry by John Harington, Sir Edward Sherburne, and Edward, Lord HerbertEdward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury
Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Chirbury was an Anglo-Welsh soldier, diplomat, historian, poet and religious philosopher of the Kingdom of England.-Early life:...
. In partnership again with Humphrey Moseley, Dring published Thomas Stanley
Thomas Stanley (author)
Sir Thomas Stanley was an English author and translator.-Life:He was born in Cumberlow, Hertfordshire, the son of Sir Thomas Stanley of Cumberlow, Hertfordshire and his wife, Mary Hammond. Mary was the cousin of Richard Lovelace, and Stanley was educated in company with the son of Edward Fairfax,...
's important 3-volume History of Philosophy (1655–61). Independently, Dring issued Stanley's edition of Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus
Claudius Aelianus , often seen as just Aelian, born at Praeneste, was a Roman author and teacher of rhetoric who flourished under Septimius Severus and probably outlived Elagabalus, who died in 222...
(1665
1665 in literature
The year 1665 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*November 7 - The London Gazette is published for the first time.* Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society begins publication....
). Dring produced other books of serious nonfiction, including the anonymous and rather startlingly-titled Modern Policies, Taken from Machiavel, Borgia, and Other Choice Authors (1652
1652 in literature
The year 1652 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* John Milton loses the last of his eyesight during the year. His wife Mary dies on May 5.-New books:*Anonymous - Eliza's Babes, or the Virgin's Offering...
).
As was commonly done in his era, Dring sometimes partnered with other stationers
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...
for major projects (as with Moseley and Marriot, noted above). For Franz Schott's lavishly-illustrated Italy in Its Original Glory (1660
1660 in literature
The year 1660 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:* January 1 - Samuel Pepys starts his diary.* February - John Rhodes reopens the old Cockpit Theatre in London, forms a company of young actors and begins to stage plays...
), Dring worked with John Place and Henry Twyford; for César de Rochefort's History of the Caribby Islands (1666
1666 in literature
The year 1666 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*2 September - Samuel Pepys begins recording details of the Great Fire of London in his diary.*Aphra Behn goes to Antwerp to work as a government spy.-New books:...
), Dring shared responsibility with John Starkey.
Though he generally maintained a respectable reputation, Dring's career also showed a few of the questionable involvements that were common among the stationers of his era. In 1650 he published Robert Baron's
Robert Baron (poet)
Robert Baron was an English poet and dramatist. He was a very successful plagiarist, his thefts passing unrecognised for more than a century after his death.-Life:...
Pocula Castalia. Baron was a notable plagiarist
Plagiarism
Plagiarism is defined in dictionaries as the "wrongful appropriation," "close imitation," or "purloining and publication" of another author's "language, thoughts, ideas, or expressions," and the representation of them as one's own original work, but the notion remains problematic with nebulous...
; his 1650 verse collection consisted mainly of the work of John Milton
John Milton
John Milton was an English poet, polemicist, a scholarly man of letters, and a civil servant for the Commonwealth of England under Oliver Cromwell...
. In 1658 Dring published a work by "H. W." called The Accomplish'd Courtier, an unacknowledged translation of Eustache de Refuge
Eustache de Refuge
Eustache de Refuge, seigneur de Précy et de Courcelles , was an Early Modern French courtier, statesman and author.- Biography :...
's Traicté de la Cour (1617
1617 in literature
The year 1617 in literature involved some significant events.-Events:*March 4 - Shrovetide riot of the London apprentices damages the Cockpit Theatre...
).
Dring's date of death is not known; his last will and testament was dated September 12, 1668, and was probated on December 21 of that year. He was survived by two sons, Thomas and Joshua.
Dring the younger
His son Thomas Dring the younger continued his father's business into the 1680s, "at the sign of the White Lion next Chancery Lane end, in Fleet Street." Like his father, the younger Dring published law books and works on public affairs, plus plays and general literature. In a brief period in the 1670s the younger Dring issued a group of noteworthy play texts:- Aphra BehnAphra BehnAphra Behn was a prolific dramatist of the English Restoration and was one of the first English professional female writers. Her writing contributed to the amatory fiction genre of British literature.-Early life:...
's The Amorous Prince, 1671- and her The Dutch Lover, 1673
- The RehearsalThe RehearsalThe Rehearsal may refer to:* The Rehearsal , 1672, by George Villiers.* The Rehearsal , 1974, about the Greek junta.* The Rehearsal , 2008, by Eleanor Catton.* The Rehearsal, a short film....
, by George Villiers, 2nd Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 2nd Duke of BuckinghamGeorge Villiers, 2nd Duke of Buckingham, 20th Baron de Ros of Helmsley, KG, PC, FRS was an English statesman and poet.- Upbringing and education :...
and others, 1672 - Edward RavenscroftEdward RavenscroftEdward Ravenscroft , English dramatist, belonged to an ancient Flintshire family.He was entered at the Middle Temple, but devoted his attention mainly to literature. Among his pieces are...
's The Citizen Turned Gentleman, 1672 - Henry Nevil PayneHenry Nevil PayneHenry Nevil Payne was a dramatist and agitator for the Roman Catholic cause in Scotland and England. He wrote The Fatal Jealousie , The Morning Ramble , and The Siege of Constantinople . After he finished writing plays, he was heavily involved in the Montgomery Plot in 1689, and was captured and...
's The Fatal Journey, 1673- and his The Morning Ramble, also 1673
- William WycherleyWilliam WycherleyWilliam Wycherley was an English dramatist of the Restoration period, best known for the plays The Country Wife and The Plain Dealer.-Biography:...
's The Gentleman Dancing-Master, 1673 (partnered with Henry HerringmanHenry HerringmanHenry 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...
)- and his The Country WifeThe Country WifeThe Country Wife is a Restoration comedy written in 1675 by William Wycherley. A product of the tolerant early Restoration period, the play reflects an aristocratic and anti-Puritan ideology, and was controversial for its sexual explicitness even in its own time. The title itself contains a lewd pun...
, 1675.
- and his The Country Wife
In non-dramatic literature, the younger Dring's most notable book was arguably the 1673 second edition of Milton's shorter poems.