Shakspere & Typography

The author argues that Shakspere possessed intimate practical knowledge of printing and typography, proposing that the young man worked in a London printing office and had connections with printers such as Vautrollier and Richard Field. He surveys competing claims that attribute specialized skills to the poet and then marshals selected phrases and passages from the plays that resonate with typographical practice. The book analyzes early printed editions and their errors, suggesting misprints can illuminate textual obscurities. Interwoven with biographical reconstruction are descriptions of sixteenth-century printing life and reflections on how tradecraft shaped literary expression.