Shakespeare's World | Printing and Publishing in the Tudor Age
From Manuscript to Print
Shakespeare seldom mentions either printers or publishers, and when he does, his words often mock their work. In The Winter's Tale, Mopsa rhapsodizes about her love for ballads when they are in print, swearing that "then we are sure they are true" (IV. iv. 254-255). The subsequent wordplay between the Clown and Autolycus is our guarantee that they are not. In Henry VI, Part 2, Jack Cade, the rebel leader, condemns a nobleman to death for treason and the corruption of youth. On what evidence? The lord has built a grammar school and has also been...
[The entire page is 5591 words long]