Thomas Thorpe ( 1569 – 1625) was an English publisher, most famous for publishing

Shakespeare's sonnets William Shakespeare (1565 –1616) wrote sonnets on a variety of themes. When discussing or referring to Shakespeare's sonnets, it is almost always a reference to the 154 sonnets that were first published all together in a quarto in 1609. Howe ...

and several works by

Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe ( ; Baptism, baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), also known as Kit Marlowe, was an English playwright, poet, and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the English Renaissance theatre, Eli ...

and

Ben Jonson Benjamin Jonson ( 11 June 1572 – ) was an English playwright, poet and actor. Jonson's artistry exerted a lasting influence on English poetry and stage comedy. He popularised the comedy of humours; he is best known for the satire, satirical ...

. His publication of the sonnets has long been controversial. Nineteenth-century critics thought that he might have published the poems without Shakespeare's consent;

Sidney Lee Sir Sidney Lee (5 December 1859 – 3 March 1926) was an English biographer, writer, and critic. Biography Lee was born Solomon Lazarus Lee in 1859 at 12 Keppel Street, Bloomsbury, London. He was educated at the City of London School and ...

called him "predatory and irresponsible." Conversely, modern scholars Wells and Taylor assert their verdict that "Thorpe was a reputable publisher, and there is nothing intrinsically irregular about his publication."

Life

The son of an innkeeper in Barnet,

Middlesex Middlesex (; abbreviation: Middx) is a Historic counties of England, former county in South East England, now mainly within Greater London. Its boundaries largely followed three rivers: the River Thames, Thames in the south, the River Lea, Le ...

, Thorpe worked as an apprentice to Richard Watkins for nine years in a small shop. In 1594 Thorpe obtained his publishing rights, but was still without his printing rights. His first book published was '' The First Book of Lucan'', Marlowe's translation of the ''

Pharsalia ''De Bello Civili'' (; ''On the Civil War''), more commonly referred to as the ''Pharsalia'' (, neuter plural), is a Latin literature, Roman Epic poetry, epic poem written by the poet Lucan, detailing the Caesar's civil war, civil war between Ju ...

,'' the copyright of which he received from Edward Blount, who would come to be a close friend of Thorpe's. He then returned the favour by dedicating the volume to Blount, which was quite unorthodox for the time: publications were generally dedicated to noblemen, local celebrities,

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

, royalty, and other men of distinction. In 1605 Thorpe's publishing career took off, as he published

George Chapman George Chapman ( – 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman is seen as an anticipator of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. He is ...

's '' All Fools'' and Ben Jonson's '' Sejanus His Fall,'' the latter of which was also provided by Blount. It has even been speculated that Jonson himself may have even been involved in the printing, with critic Jonas Barish noting "The exactness of the marginal annotations, the closeness with which the typography conveyed Jonson's metrical intentions, and the corrections made in proof all suggest that Jonson oversaw the printing himself." Thorpe was a mysterious anomaly among the stationers of his generation: there is no evidence that he ever maintained either a print shop or a bookshopand without such a facility it is hard to comprehend how he stayed in business. Yet he managed: he commissioned printers to do his printing and arranged for booksellers to sell his books. For one example, his 1609 edition of Shakespeare's Sonnets (see below) was printed by George Eld, and sold by William Aspley and William Wright. Thorpe had a cryptic relationship with Aspley; together the two men entered plays into the Stationers' Register – '' The Malcontent'' on 5 July 1604, and '' Eastward Ho'' on 4 September 1605 – yet when the plays were published soon after, they were issued by Aspley alone. Thorpe remained in business until at least 1624, when he and Blount transferred the copyright of Marlowe's '' Hero and Leander'' to fellow stationer Simon Vicars. Thomas Thorpe stopped publishing in 1625, the probable year of his death. Dorcas Thorpe of St. Olave Southwark was granted administration of the estate of her late husband Thomas Thorpe on 30 July. Thorpe also stopped receiving his pension from the Stationers' Company that year, which strengthens the evidence for his death that year.

The Sonnets

In 1609, Thorpe published the most important work of his career, Shakespeare's ''Sonnets.'' His apparent disregard for Shakespeare's permission earned him a poor reputation, although modern author

Katherine Duncan-Jones Katherine Dorothea Duncan-Jones (13 May 1941 – 16 October 2022) was an English literature and Shakespeare scholar and was also a Fellow of New Hall, Cambridge (1965–1966), and then Somerville College, Oxford (1966–2001). She was also Prof ...

has argued that he was not such a "scoundrel" as he was portrayed, and the amiable and admirable Blount would certainly not associate with him if he were a scoundrel. It has even been suggested that Shakespeare ''did'' sell his manuscript to Thorpe, because of his acquaintance with Jonson as an actor in ''Sejanus,'' who may have recommended Thorpe to him as a good publisher. The dedication, which is addressed to a mysterious Mr. W.H., may have been written either by Shakespeare himself or by Thorpe. Thorpe was probably responsible for the arrangement of the sonnets, with 1– 17 being the " procreation sonnets", 18– 126 being love sonnets to the Fair Youth (for the most part), and 127– 154 being written on a variety of subjects, including politics, sex, and the Dark Lady. Critics have failed to agree whether or not his arrangement was the most apt, but most detect a logical coherence in the order, which is generally retained today. The possibility that the manuscript was provided to Thomas Thorpe by a needy "MR. W. H.," the dedicatee of the volume and the poems' possible recipient, seems seldom to have been explored.

Notable published works

* 1600 – ''The First Book of Lucan'' by Christopher Marlowe * 1605 – '' All Fools'' by George Chapman * 1605 – ''

Sejanus Lucius Aelius Sejanus ( – 18 October AD 31), commonly known as Sejanus (), was a Roman soldier and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius. Of the Equites class by birth, Sejanus rose to power as prefect of the Praetorian Guard, the imperia ...

'' by Ben Jonson * 1606 – '' The Gentleman Usher'' by George Chapman * 1606 – '' Hymenaei'' by Ben Jonson * 1607 – '' What You Will'' by John Marston * 1607 – '' Volpone'' by Ben Jonson * 1608 – '' The Masque of Blackness'' and '' The Masque of Beauty'' by Ben Jonson * 1608 – '' The Conspiracy and Tragedy of Charles, Duke of Byron'' by George Chapman * 1609 – '' Shake-speare's sonnets'' by William Shakespeare

Notes

References

* Chambers, E. K. ''The Elizabethan Stage.'' 4 Volumes, Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1923. * Duncan-Jones, Katherine. "Was the 1609 Shake-Speares Sonnets Really Unauthorized?" ''Review of English Studies,'' New Series Vol. 34, No. 134 (May 1983), pp. 151–71. * Halliday, F. E. ''A Shakespeare Companion 1564–1964.'' Baltimore, Penguin, 1964. * Wells, Stanley, and Gary Taylor. ''William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion.'' New York, W. W. Norton, 1997.
Thorpe at Marlovian.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorpe, Thomas 1560s births 1635 deaths Publishers (people) from London 16th-century English businesspeople 17th-century English publishers (people)