Libmonster ID: UK-1590
Author(s) of the publication: K. M. Sukhorukov

Printing was, as is well known ,one of the necessary prerequisites for bourgeois development. 1 However, broad circles of readers are not always aware of the trials that both those who published and those who were published often went through at that time. Some idea of this can be given by the history of publishing books and their trade in England at the end of the XVI-beginning of the XVII century. Shortly after the introduction of printing in the country (U.K. Caxton, 1476) English rulers began to encourage the development of the book business on the basis of its centralization combined with the strictest control, recognizing the book as a powerful means of ideological influence on the population. On May 4, 1557, Queen Mary Tudor granted Charter 97 to the "glorious Fremen of the City of London" 2 to create a "livery" 3

1 See K. Marx and F. Engels Soch. Vol. 30, p. 262.

2 Freeman, i.e. a free citizen of the self-governing historical center of the City of London, had the privilege to craft or trade certain goods (including books) within the walls of London. You could become a freeman by inheritance, either by working as an apprentice for a certain period of time in the guild, or by paying an entrance fee and submitting an appropriate recommendation.

3 Liveries served not only as clothing, but also as a kind of uniform for the most well-off members of privileged guilds, each of which had certain clothing colors (the guild of printers and booksellers - red and brown-

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the Guild of Stationary Printers and Booksellers, 4 granted the exclusive right to print and distribute books throughout England. In addition to Cambridge and Oxford, where the universities were located, the publication of books was banned in other cities. The long-term monopoly position of the London guild in the book business is one of the phenomena that Karl Marx had in mind when he wrote about the impossibility of developing the craft of that time without special privileges for those engaged in it .5 The guild's management staff consisted of a master petty officer, two trustees, and a board of assistants consisting of 8 to 10 (later increased in number) of the most successful printers from the circle of privileged liveried members of the guild.

From the very beginning of its activity, the new guild, like other guild associations, showed a tendency to develop an oligarchy. Even in the first decades of its existence, the master and two trustees were chosen by a board of assistants, and the role of fremen was reduced to passive approval of candidates for the next term. Even less rights were enjoyed by apprentices, who could only become full members of the guild after the end of the 7-year term of work for the master legalized throughout the country and reach the age of 24, and the master's petition was required before the guild leadership, and then before the City leadership, which could only transfer apprentices to the category of fremen. Even after receiving this title, most fremen were still hired workers by Guild 6 members .

Almost every printer of that time was actually a publisher. But not everyone had their own printing house. Such a publisher, which usually distributed the bulk of the circulation, entered into an agreement with the printer who printed the book, and in the output data the name of the printer could not be called, but the name and address of the merchant of the publication were necessarily indicated. Soon, the guild introduced rules for issuing permits for printing and distributing books. The clerk kept a guild register with a record of the registration of each manuscript that received permission. The entry recorded the publisher's monopoly right to use the manuscript .7 This right could be issued either before or after the start of printing the manuscript. Most of the books were published under licenses. They were divided into internal publications, issued by the guild's management exclusively for non-church and state publications, and external publications issued by government agencies .8
Due to the growing competition, European printers increasingly turned to their sovereign for a guarantee of their exclusive right to publish books on certain topics. For this purpose, the practice of granting long-term patents and privileges was widely used. England was no exception, where by the middle of the sixteenth century, all profitable publications were given to the exclusive use of a group of printers. By the end of the 16th century. they were already forced to share their rights with their partners, which was documented. This was caused both by the need to appease competitors who were forced to "pirate" books, and by the importance of attracting new capital investments, and by the increasing importance of a fixed publishing right to a particular manuscript in contrast to the vague wording in patent 9 .

Despite regulating the process of publishing books, the guild could not prevent the growth of" piracy " in the book business. Until the second half of the 17th century, the current term "copyright" was interpreted not as an exclusive copyright to use one's work as a commodity, but as a fixed ownership right of the owner - publisher to the manuscript, regardless of how he acquired it and how identical it is to the author's original .10 English pisas-

blue). Permission to wear liveries meant that the relevant rights and privileges of the owners of liveries were protected by the authorities.

4 English stationer (from Latin stationarius) was used in the Middle Ages to refer to the professions of librarian, book printer, bookseller and bookbinder.

5 See K. Marx and F. Engels Soch. Vol. 27, p. 403.

6 The Worchipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers. -The British Printer, 1957, N 4, pp. 61, 62.

7 Plant M. The English Book Trade. Lnd. 1974, p. 114.

8 Greg W. W. Some Aspects and Problems of London Publishing between 1550 and 1650. Oxford. 1956, p. 89.

9 Judge C. B. Elizabethan Book-pirates. Cambridge. 1934, pp. 26, 27.

10 This interpretation is much closer to the literal meaning of the word "copyright" - the right to copy (right to reprint). In the future, this term began to denote all copyright.

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The authors did not have the opportunity to resort to the law to protect the rights to their own creations. At best, they, like their legitimate publishers, could count on the help of powerful patrons if someone tried to prevent the publication of their own work. Some of the book's "pirates" still have a bad reputation. At the same time, the literature does not mention some important results of their activities for the development of world culture. We will show this in the works of W. Shakespeare.

His first poems ("Venus and Adonis", "Lucretia") appeared in 1593 and 1594; they were published by a fellow countryman and friend of the poet R. Field, who bought the printing house from the French emigrant T. Watrollier 11 . Shakespeare did not receive a single penny for these hugely successful publications (Venus and Adonis was reprinted 7 times in the first eight years), as well as for all subsequent legal and "pirated" editions of his works .12 Let us explain what happened in order to give a more accurate picture of the relationship between the publisher-bookseller and the author of that time, because they are often described in a simplified way .13 Most of the manuscripts that came to publishers were collected almost always with the consent of the author, who rarely sold the manuscript to the publisher and usually received a substantial sum of money from his patron, to whom the printed work was dedicated, in lieu of a fee. Patronage then permeated all spheres of public life, and in the world of literature there was a fierce competition for it, since the demand for it exceeded the supply. A powerful patron-aristocrat guaranteed the author not only a livelihood, but also protection from political persecution. Therefore, many of the books banned by the authorities, produced illegally in England or abroad, which were then imported into England and sold, had fake dedications to powerful aristocrats for camouflage.

Authors of books of narrow subjects (such as scientific ones) maintained closer ties with the publisher, sometimes even subsidizing its expenses themselves and receiving in return either a part of the circulation or a part of the profit after the sale of books. However, major writers had to focus primarily on the elite. This made it almost impossible for them to receive money from publishers even if they needed it. Outstanding minds sought to take their place in the highest circles of English society. They were eager for politics and power, and therefore did not often turn to the pen (aristocrats and prominent authors F. Bacon and F. Sidney), sometimes under the guise of a court sinecure (poets who held nominal positions and received a pension from the king). Spager and B. Johnson). In accordance with the mores and class concepts of that era, the authors who sought to justify the title of gentleman considered it shameful to engage in literature as a profession and objected to the publication of their works in order to separate themselves from the literary day laborers who worked for publishers of mass and low-grade products (popular editions of ballads, dream books, criminal reports, etc.). protests if they were not accompanied by an order from the author's powerful patrons 14 .

For Shakespeare, who performed with his troupe at the court of Queen Elizabeth, it was impossible to have any commercial dealings with publishers, let alone legal proceedings. Shakespeare's only recorded protest (in 1612) is known about the use of his name by W. W. Shakespeare. Jaggard for a book of poems, most of which were not written by the great writer and could lead to suspicion of plagiarism .15 As for Shakespeare's plays, he himself never interfered in matters related to their publication, leaving it to his troupe, which repeatedly petitioned the Lord Chamberlain to stop attempts to "pirate" the publication of a certain play. This is explained by the fact that the troupe was vitally interested in maintaining a monopoly on the manuscript of the play it bought from the playwright, especially the new one. So publishers went to great lengths to get a Shakespearean text for the 6-pence issue.

11 Mumby F. A., Norrie I. Publishing and Bookselling. Lnd. 1974, p. 77.

12 Gurwen H. A History of Booksellers, the Old and the New. Detroit. 1968, p. 22.

13 See, for example: Murnby F. A., Norrie I. Op. cit.; A bright E. Dramatic Publication in England, 1580-1640. N.Y. 1927.

14 Willoughby E. E. A Printer of Shakespeare. The Books and Times of William Jaggard. N. Y. 1970, pp. 18, 19.

15 Ibid., p. 91.

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(the generally accepted price at that time was 16) publications in quarto format, which brought a large profit.

Often, a minor actor was introduced into Shakespeare's company for episodic roles, so that he could restore the entire text of the play from memory, then "pirated" published with large omissions and distortions compared to the original author. Another fraudulent method was the use of a recording made by ear, which, due to poor quality, led to even more disastrous results for the real text. As a rule, the troupe or author, in order to rehabilitate their work in the conditions when the first edition was already distributed, agreed to provide the publisher with an original manuscript for re-publication with the note "corrected", "redacted", etc. Only thanks to this practice, many of the great works of that era have come down to us.

Let's tell you more about Yandex. Metrica. Jaggard (1568-1623), to whom not so many lines are devoted in reference books, although it is to this "pirate"publisher that humanity owes the fact that half of Shakespeare's works have come down to us. After working as an apprentice for one of the best printers, G. Denham, Jaggard received freeman status in 1591 and opened a bookshop in London, on the famous Fleet Street book and newspaper. In 1595, he began publishing, making the first entries in the guild register, and even then showed outstanding efficiency. The first book published by him (poems of W. Hannis) was provided with separate titles for each major section, so that if necessary, the publication could be divided into several notebooks, selling them separately .17
Since 1598, Shakespeare's handwritten sonnets have been circulating in London, and publishers have been unsuccessfully hunting for them. Only T. Thorpe was successful in 1609, and Jaggard had to settle for only five sonnets in 1599. He included them in his first" pirated "edition of The Passionate Pilgrim, which consisted of 21 works, all of which were attributed by this publisher to Shakespeare. Some of the poems were written by unknown authors, but in clear imitation of Shakespeare, and the rest were the works of C. Marlowe, B. Griffin and R. Barnfield. The inclusion of competing authors in the same book protected Jaggard from their wrath, since each author preferred a wait-and-see attitude in this situation. Before 1612, "The Passionate Pilgrim" was published again and also without protests from its unwitting collective authors. However, the third, "revised and expanded" edition caused not only the aforementioned Shakespeare complaint, but also a quarrel between Jaggard's long-time client, T. Heywood, and his printer, since Jaggard increased the volume of The Passionate Pilgrim almost twice solely at the expense of Heywood's texts. Uninformed readers might think that Heywood's work, previously published under his name , was simply a borrowing or imitation of Shakespeare .18
In 1612. Jaggard was blind, but he kept busy. His eldest son became a master freeman at the age of 18, contrary to guild custom, and became his father's right-hand man in all matters, with Jaggard Jr.'s name usually used for official publishing rights, and Jaggard Sr. increasingly engaged in book sales. In 1619. they undertook the publication of ten plays by Shakespeare (two of them not written by Shakespeare). This edition was distributed by Jaggard's associates. As early as 1609, the Lord Chamberlain, who was responsible for the production of plays, forbade the publication of new plays by Shakespeare without the consent of the company of his actors. Jaggard himself owned the manuscripts of only two plays (A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Merchant of Venice), and the partners owned the publishing rights to the other eight. The plays were published in nine quarto pamphlets, five of which had false release dates, and seven were attributed by Jaggard to the printing house of the now deceased J. R. R. Tolkien. Roberts, to convince readers of their prescription. None of the "pirates" publishers were injured 19 .

But Jaggard became more famous as a result of the completely legal publication of the first complete collection of Shakespeare's plays in folio, which his theater comrades wanted to perpetuate the playwright's name. This was not easy to do, as 18 plays by Shek-

16 To explain the prices of that time, we will point out that 1 penny at the end of the sixteenth century could buy a pound of meat or butter, 2 - chicken, 6 - a pair of leather shoes. At that time, £ 1 contained 240 pence.

17 Willoughby E. E. Op. cit., p. 42.

18 Ibid., pp. 49 - 52, 89.

19 Ibid., pp. 129 - 137.

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spira has already been published in quarto, and for their publication it was necessary to negotiate with the owners of publishing rights. Publishing a huge folio was also financially risky. None of the successful publishers took it up, but the Jaggards didn't hesitate. They divided the book into three parts with independent pagination (comedies, chronicles, tragedies) to ensure their sale separately. They brought in several publishers to raise capital, and the guild clerk made a register entry for the publication of the folio in the name of Jaggard Jr. The older "pirate" did not live up to it, having died a few days earlier. The folio collection raised Shakespeare's name to unprecedented heights, with 18 plays published for the first time (including Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra) .20
Thorpe, who first published Shakespeare's Sonnets in full in 1609, was born around 1569. After gaining freeman status in 1594, he decided to try his luck in the London book publishing world, 21 but it wasn't until 1603 that he became active in publishing. He never had his own printing press or bookselling space. All his income was associated with the acquisition (legal or illegal) of lucrative manuscripts, and we note the unmistakable choice of his great works among other works. Thorpe published plays by B. Johnson, J. Marston, and J. Chapman. These three authors were Shakespeare's most dangerous theatrical competitors, and their close friend, J. R. R. Tolkien, was a very good friend of Shakespeare's. Florio is one of the most ardent enemies of the great playwright.

The son of an Italian Protestant emigrant, Florio served as a tutor to the young Earls of Pembroke and Southampton and had an outstanding literary talent. He compiled several Italian-English dictionaries; one of them was published in England in 1598 under the title "The World of Words"; in 1603, Florio's translation of the famous "Experiments" of M. de Montaigne was published . When Florio tried to get the Earl of Southampton to patronize his friend Chapman, Shakespeare criticized Chapman's poem "A Hymn to the Shadow of Night" dedicated to the earl, which deprived the poet of the expected favors and then led to his numerous attacks on Shakespeare .23
Shakespeare's Sonnets circulated for many years only among the poet's close friends and in a very limited number of handwritten copies. It was Florio who got hold of one of these manuscripts and suggested that Thorpe publish it, hoping to sow enmity between Shakespeare and Southampton. The manuscript was registered in the guild register as "a book called Shakespeare's Sonnets". If the poet confirmed the publication, registration would be made in full with the author's name. Curiously, the first edition of The Sonnets appeared in two versions: the title pages are identical, with the exception of the words "sold by William Espley" and " sold by John Wright "(Thorpe wanted to make the maximum possible profit in a short time, for fear of interference).

Thorpe considered himself a debtor to Florio, and this is confirmed by the facts associated with the "Manual" of the ancient Stoic philosopher Epictetus published in 1610 by Thorpe. Contrary to the translator's wishes, the popular book was given a magnificent dedication not to the Earl of Pembroke, but to Florio himself, which served as an excellent advertisement for the talents of the learned Italian and a kind of payment for his service. 24 But after 1624, only one entry about Thorpe appeared in the guild papers (1635), where it was reported that he had no means of subsistence and was placed in the city almshouse. 25 His fate is not a sad exception, but one of the possible prospects for English book publishers and booksellers at that time. Indeed, in a competitive "fight without rules", not all of its participants survived, and the fate of the losers was ruin and despair. There is a well-known case when the English bibliographer, publisher and writer J. R. R. Tolkien wrote: Stowe applied to King James I in the early seventeenth century for permission to collect alms near monasteries and churches, and was granted a corresponding official patent .26
20 Ibid., pp. 164 - 165.

21 Rostenberg L. Literary, Political, Scientific, Religious and Legal Publishing, Printing and Bookselling in England, 1500- 1600. Vol. I. N. Y. 1965, p. 51.

22 Ibid., pp. 58 - 59. The British Museum holds an edition of Experiments translated by Florio and signed by Shakespeare. There are marked quotes used by Shakespeare in his plays.

23 Ibid., pp. 61 - 63.

24 Ibid., pp. 66 - 68.

25 Ibid., p. 72.

26 Stein V. Something about books, their creators and collectors. - Printed Art, 1902, N 3, p. 178.

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