John Smethwick (died 1641) was a

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

publisher of the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The Roman symbol of Britannia (a female per ...

, Jacobean, and Caroline eras. Along with colleague William Aspley, Smethwick was one of the "junior partners" in the publishing syndicate that issued the First Folio collection of Shakespeare's plays in

1623 Events January–March * January 21 **Viscount Falkland, England's Lord Deputy of Ireland, issues a proclamation ordering all Roman Catholic priests to leave Ireland, affecting negotiations over the "Spanish match" (which resume in ...

. As his title pages specify, his shop was "in St. Dunstan's Churchyard in

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

, under the Dial."

Career

He was the son of a London draper, and began a nine-year apprenticeship under a Thomas Newman at Christmas 1589 (though he was emancipated early by his master's widow). Like Aspley, Smethwick enjoyed a career of unusual longevity: he became a "freeman" (a full member) of the

Stationers Company The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery company, livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company ...

on 17 January 1597, and continued in business for more than four decades. In the earlier phases of his career, Smethwick was repeatedly fined for selling books to which he lacked the rights; but in later years he rose to be successively Junior Warden (1631), Senior Warden (1635), and Master (1639) of the Stationers Company. For a portion of his career Smethwick was partnered with John Jaggard, the brother of

William Jaggard William Jaggard ( – November 1623) was an Elizabethan era, Elizabethan and Jacobean era, Jacobean printer and publisher, best known for his connection with the texts of William Shakespeare, most notably the First Folio of Shakespeare's pl ...

, the printer of the First Folio.

Shakespeare

Smethwick's connection with the Shakespeare canon began in 1607: in an entry in the

Stationers' Register The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. This was a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with England's publishing industry, including prin ...

dated 19 November that year, stationer Nicholas Ling transferred the copyrights of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

, Love's Labor's Lost,'' and ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

'' to Smethwick. (At the same time, Smethwick acquired from Ling the rights to ''The Taming of a Shrew,'' the early alternative version of Shakespeare's ''

The Shrew ''The Shrew'' (Spanish: ''Fierecilla'') is a 1951 Mexican comedy film directed by Fernando Méndez and starring Rosita Arenas, Domingo Soler and Carlos López Moctezuma. The plot was inspired by Shakespeare's ''The Taming of the Shrew''.Vital ...

''.) Two of these plays were subsequently published in

quarto Quarto (abbreviated Qto, 4to or 4º) is the format of a book or pamphlet produced from full sheets printed with eight pages of text, four to a side, then folded twice to produce four leaves. The leaves are then trimmed along the folds to produc ...

by Smethwick – ''Romeo and Juliet'' in

1609 Events January–March * January 12 – The Basque witch trials are started in Spain as the court of the Spanish Inquisition, Inquisition at Logroño receives a letter from the commissioner of the village of Zugarramurdi, and ...

(the third

) and ''Hamlet'' in

1611 Events January–March * January 26 – Maximilien de Béthune, Duke of Sully is forced by Queen regent Marie's Regency Council to resign as chief minister of France. He is replaced by Nicolas de Neufville, seigneur de Vill ...

(also Q3). Smethwick's possession of these copyrights eventually involved him in the First Folio project. When Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard were preparing to print the Folio, c. 1620, they had to obtain the rights to eighteen plays that had already been printed. Two copyright holders, Aspley and Smethwick, chose to participate in the Folio project as partners with Blount and the Jaggards. Again like Aspley, Smethwick retained his Shakespearean copyrights to join in Robert Allot's Second Folio in

1632 Events January–March * January 8 – University of Amsterdam is established at the site of the Athenaeum Illustre of Amsterdam. * January 31 – The dissection of a body for the benefit of medical students is carried o ...

. A few Shakespearean plays continued to be printed in quarto editions after 1623 – and Smethwick was responsible for several of these late quartos. He issued the second quarto of ''Love's labor's Lost'' in

1631 Events January–March * January 23 – Thirty Years' War: Sweden and France sign the Treaty of Bärwalde, a military alliance in which France provides funds for the Swedish army invading northern Germany. * February 5 &ndas ...

. He published the undated Q4 of ''Romeo and Juliet'' (1623?), and followed it with Q5 in

1637 Events January–March * January 5 – Pierre Corneille's tragicomedy '' Le Cid'' is first performed, in Paris, France. * January 16 – The siege of Nagpur ends in the modern-day Maharashtra state of India, as Kok Shah, the ...

. In the same era he issued the undated Q4 of ''Hamlet'' (1625?) and the Q5 of 1637.R. Carter Hailey, "The Dating Game: New Evidence for the Dates of Q4 ''Romeo and Juliet'' and Q4 ''Hamlet''," ''Shakespeare Quarterly'', Vol. 58 No. 3 (Fall 2007), pp. 367–87.

Others

Inevitably, Smethwick also published a large body of non-Shakespearean literature as well. Notably, he issued an important collection of the ''Poems'' of

Michael Drayton Michael Drayton ( – ) was an English poet who came to prominence in the Elizabethan era, continuing to write through the reign of James I and into the reign of Charles I. Many of his works consisted of historical poetry. He was also the fir ...

, in seven editions from

1608 Events January–March *January 2 – The first of the Jamestown supply missions returns to the Colony of Virginia with Christopher Newport commanding the ''John and Francis'' and the ''Phoenix'' bringing about 100 new settlers to ...

to 1637. He published Sir David Murray's ''The Tragical Death of Sophonisba'' and ''Coelia'' in 1611, and an edition of

Thomas Lodge Thomas Lodge (September 1625) was an English writer and medical practitioner whose life spanned the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods. Biography Early life Thomas Lodge was born about 1557 in West Ham, the second son of Sir Thomas Lodge ...

's ''Rosalynde: Euphues' Golden Legacy'' in

1612 Events January–March * January 6 – Axel Oxenstierna becomes Lord High Chancellor of Sweden. He persuades the Riksdag of the Estates to grant the Swedish nobility the right and privilege to hold all higher offices of governme ...

. He produced the second and third edition of

Francis Beaumont Francis Beaumont ( ; 1584 – 6 March 1616) was a dramatist in the English Renaissance theatre, most famous for his collaborations with John Fletcher. Beaumont's life Beaumont was the son of Sir Francis Beaumont of Grace Dieu, near Thri ...

's ''

The Knight of the Burning Pestle ''The Knight of the Burning Pestle'' is a play in five acts by Francis Beaumont, first performed at Blackfriars Theatre in 1607 and published in a book size, quarto in 1613. It is the earliest whole parody (or pastiche) play in English. The pl ...

'' (both 1635).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smethwick, John 17th-century English people Publishers (people) from London 1641 deaths Year of birth unknown