Jump to content

Thomas Creede

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Thomas Creede(fl.1593 – 1617) was a printer of theElizabethanandJacobeaneras, rated as "one of the best of his time."[1]Based inLondon,he conducted his business under the sign of the Catherine Wheel in Thames Street from 1593 to 1600, and under the sign of the Eagle and Child in the Old Exchange from 1600 to 1617. Creede is best known for printing editions of works inEnglish Renaissance drama,especially for ten editions of sixShakespeareanplays and three works in theShakespeare Apocrypha.

Printing

[edit]

In Creede's era, the disciplines of printing and publishing were generally conducted separately. Books were published bystationersor booksellers, who subcontracted the job of printing to professional printers. Those individuals, likeWilliam JaggardofFirst Foliofame, who regularly functioned as both publishers and printers, were the exceptions to the general rule. Much of Creede's most noteworthy work, as with Shakespearean texts, followed this model – he worked as a printer hired by booksellers; yet Creede did a not-insignificant amount of publishing too (see below).

For the booksellerThomas Millington,Creede printed:

ForAndrew Wise,Creede printed:

For Matthew Law (who acquired the rights toRichard IIIfrom Wise in 1603), Creede printed:

  • Richard III,Q4, 1605
  • Richard III,Q5, 1612

ForCuthbert Burby,Creede printed:

For Thomas Millington and John Busby, Creede printed:

ForThomas Pavier(who acquired the rights toHenry Vlater in 1600), Creede printed:

  • Henry V,Q2, 1602 (another "bad quarto" )

For Arthur Johnson, Creede printed:

For Henry Gosson, Creede, along with fellow printer William White, printed:

ForNathaniel Butter,Creede printed the solequartoof:

  • The London Prodigal,Q, 1605, one of the plays of the Shakespeare Apocrypha; assigned on the title page to "William Shakespeare"

And for Arthur Johnson, Creede printed:

Creede was responsible for a number of play texts beyond the confines of Shakespeariana. He printed the sole quartos of the anonymous playsThe Maid's MetamorphosisandThe Wisdom of Doctor Dodypoll,both for Richard Olive, in 1600; he printed the first quartos ofGeorge Chapman'sMonsieur D'Olivefor William Holmes (1606), andBeaumont and Fletcher'sCupid's RevengeandWentworth Smith'sHector of Germany,both for Josias Harrison (both 1615), and the second quarto ofJohn Lyly'sMother Bombiefor Cuthbert Burby (1598). For Richard Hawkins, Creede printedThe Tragedy of Mariam(1613) byElizabeth Tanfield Cary,the first original tragedy by a woman author published in English.

And for Richard Olive, Creede printed one of the more significant non-dramatic texts of English Renaissance drama, the 1592 pamphlet byRobert Greeneknown asGreene's Groats-Worth of Wit,which contains the earliest citation of Shakespeare in a theatrical context yet discovered. For Thomas Bushell, Creede printed theMicrocyniconofThomas Middleton(1599), which was suppressed by theArchbishop of Canterbury.

Inevitably, Creede also worked on many non-dramatic projects, some of serious merit; in 1597 he printed the fifth edition ofSpenser'sThe Shepherd's Calendarfor John Harrison the Younger. Equally inevitably, he printed works of ephemeral interest, now forgotten. For Thomas Woodcocke, for instance, Creede printed John Dickenson'sArisbas: Euphues Amidst His Slumbers, or Cupid's Journey to Hellin 1594. Creede printed many of the prose romances of chivalry that were immensely popular in his era. Working in another instance for Richard Olive, he printed Emanuel Ford'sParismus, the Renowned Prince of Bohemia(1598). It must have been a success: nine years later Creede would both print and publish another of Ford's novels,The Most Pleasant History of Ornatus and Artesia(1607). For Cuthbert Burby, Creede printed the eighth volume of perhaps the most popular novel of the period,The Mirror of Knighthood(1599).

Publishing

[edit]

In some cases Creede functioned as a publisher as well as a printer, likeValentine Simmesand some others. Notably, he issued ten plays in quarto editions during an early phase of his career:[3]

Locrineis another work of the Shakespeare Apocrypha, while the anonymousFamous Victories of Henry Vis generally regarded as a source for Shakespeare's play. Several plays on the list were published one or more years after registration; the reasons for the delays are unknown, though business considerations are an obvious possible answer. Creede's title pages forThe Pedlar's Prophecy,The True Tragedy of Richard III,andA Looking Glass,Q1 and Q2, specify that the books would be sold by the stationerWilliam Barley.(Creede printed a third quarto ofA Looking Glassin 1602, though for this Q3 he was only the printer; Thomas Pavier was the publisher.)

It can be noted that when he acted as a publisher, Creede made no attributions of authorship that are certainly false.

He attributedJames IVto Robert Greene, andA Looking Glass for Londonto Greene andThomas Lodge,both of which are correct; he stated thatWilliam Warner'stranslation of theMenaechmiofPlautuswas "written in English by W. W." And he credited Greene'sAlphonsusto "R. G." Five plays were published with no attributions of authorship.[4]When Creede stated, on the title page ofLocrine,that the play had been revised by someone with the initials "W. S.," this record of reliability suggests that it may well have been so.

Creede also published works beyond the confines of drama. He issued books of verse, including reprints ofVirgil,and works on spiritual subjects, likeThe Plain Man's Spiritual Plowby "I. C." (1607). Creede published the third edition ofRalph Robinson's English translation of SirThomas More'sUtopia(1597) – andThe True Law of Free Monarchiesby KingJames I(1603). Prose works by playwrights of the era, including Middleton, Greene, andThomas Dekker,issued from his press; Dekker'sThe Wonderful Year 1603,his account of thebubonic plagueepidemic, is a noteworthy example. And Creede published, as well as printed, ephemera, like Lewis Lavaterus'sOf Ghosts and Spirits(1596).

Reputation

[edit]

While Creede's skill as a printer, compared to others of his age, is widely recognized, his connection with Shakespearean bad quartos and Apocryphal plays has led scholars and critics to question his ethics. The records of the Stationers' Company show that in the summer of 1595, Creede was fined twice (sixpence, and five shillings) for violating the rules of the company.[5]Far more seriously, Creede was prosecuted in the London consistory court in 1608 for "fornication and bastardy." The married Creede was accused of seducing a 25-year-old servant woman named Suzan More, and fathering an illegitimate child that died soon after birth.[6]

In 1616, Creede entered into a business partnership with Bernard Alsop, who took over the business in 1617, after Creede's death or retirement. (In 1617 Alsop issued Q4 ofA Looking Glassand Q2 ofThe Famous Victories,with no mention of Creede.)

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^This was the early alternative text of Shakespeare's play, short-titledThe First Part of the Contention Betwixt the Two Famous Houses of York and Lancaster.Scholars have disputed the exact relationship betweenThe First Part of the Contentionand the2 Henry VIof the First Folio; many consider the early version a "bad quarto"of Shakespeare's original. Millington had Q2 ofThe Contentionprinted byValentine Simmesin 1600.

References

[edit]
  1. ^Halliday, p. 120.
  2. ^Blayney, pp. 437–42.
  3. ^Maxwell, p. 197.
  4. ^Maxwell, p. 5.
  5. ^Maxwell, pp. 19–21.
  6. ^Gowing and Crawford, pp. 142–6.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Blayney, Peter. "The prevalence of shared printing in the early seventeenth century."Papers of the Bibliographic Society of America67 (1973).
  • Chambers, E. K.The Elizabethan Stage.4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923.
  • Gowing, Laura,andPatricia M. Crawford.Women's Worlds in Seventeenth-Century England.London, Routledge, 2000.
  • Halliday, F. E.A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964.Baltimore, Penguin, 1964.
  • Maxwell, Baldwin.Studies in the Shakespeare Apocrypha.New York, King's Crown Press, 1956.
  • Pinciss, G. M. "Thomas Creede and the Repertory of the Queen's Men, 1583–1592."Modern Philology67 (1970).
  • Yamada, Akihiro.Thomas Creede: Printer to Shakespeare and His Contemporaries.Tokyo,Meisei University Press, 1994.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_Creede&oldid=1189781363"