This study examines how Shakespeare and his contemporaries made the difficult transition from writing plays for the theatre to publishing them as literary works. Tracing the path from playhouse to printing house, Douglas Brooks analyses how and why certain popular plays found their way into print while many others failed to do so and looks at the role played by the Renaissance book trade in shaping literary reputations. Incorporating many finely observed typographical illustrations, this book focuses on plays by Shakespeare, Jonson, Webster and Beaumont and Fletcher as well as reviewing the complicated publication history of Thomas Heywood's work. Brooks uncovers the continually shifting relationship between theatre and publisher and defines the way in which the concept of authorship changed. His book represents an important contribution to the refiguration of two histories: English Renaissance drama and the early modern book.

Examines how Renaissance dramatists made the difficult transition from playwrights to published authors.
Reviews
'This densely-woven study offers a significant new interpretation of the relationship of dramatic authorship to the processes by which plays got into print in the Early Modern period. This is an important, well written, and deeply learned book.' David Bevington



Book Information
ISBN 9780521771177
Author Douglas A. Brooks
Format Hardback
Page Count 316
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 617g
Dimensions(mm) 235mm * 160mm * 27mm