Case III: William Jaggard and the Intricacies of Printing in Early Seventeenth-Century England
While Shakespeare wrote the thirty-six plays that would appear in the Fırst Folio of 1623, it was the collective energies of particular members of the London book trade that led to this now celebrated book being printed and sold to interested buyers in the bookstalls of early modern London. At the forefront of the group of Stationers involved in the printing of Mr. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Tragedies & Histories (London, 1623) was William Jaggard (1568–1623), a printer-publisher who may have been all but forgotten had he not played such a key role in the printing of Shakespeare’s plays. In this case, we will turn our attention to William Jaggard and the family of Stationers of which he was part. In doing so, to expand our understanding of how plays and the myriad genres of printed books were produced in England in the early seventeenth century.
Francis Bacon (1561-1626). The Essaies of Sr. Francis Bacon. London: J. Jaggard, 1613.
A graduate of Cambridge University and the Inns of Court, Francis Bacon would rise to become Lord Chancellor during the reign of James I (1603-1625). In addition to his significant career in law and politics, Bacon would produce a rich selection of various philosophical writings, including the Essays. First published in 1597, Bacon’s essays are similar to those of his near French contemporary Michel de Montaigne. Among the range of topics included in the work are essays on Truth, Death, Empire, and Superstition. Bound in contemporary vellum, the copy shown here is but one of several pocket-sized editions of the Essays that William Jaggard printed for his brother John between the years 1606 and 1613
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). Il Decamerone. Venice: Gabriel Giolito de Ferrari, 1548.
Composed in 1349-52 and revised again in 1370-1371, Boccaccio’s classic, The Decameron, comprises a hundred stories told by a group of seven men and three women in a secluded villa in Florence. Bound in mid sixteenth-century, blind-tooled English calf, this copy of the Decameron was previously owned by Thomas Lucy, whose name is inscribed on the front free endpaper. Like many Renaissance readers, Lucy read with pen in hand as he annotated every page of the first eight books, or days, providing English translations of numerous Italian words and phrases in the margins.
Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375). The Modell of Wit, Mirth, Eloquence and Conversation Framed in Ten Days. London: Printed by Isaac Jaggard, 1625.
Although select stories of Boccaccio’s The Decameron had been translated into English as early as 1525, and while Shakespeare would draw on one of these printings for his play All’s Well that Ends Well, the first complete translation of the work would not appear until nearly a century later with Isaac Jaggard’s printing of the work in 1620 and 1625. Recently purchased by the Fisher in 2015, this anonymous English translation of Boccaccio is one of only a small cluster of imprints to carry the name of Isaac Jaggard.
Ralph Brooke (1553-1625). A Catalogue and Succession of the Kings, Princes, Dukes, Marquesses, Earles, and Viscountes. London: Printed by William Jaggard, 1619.
Ever cantankerous, Ralph Brooke was notorious for his critical attacks against his fellow English heralds. His Catalogue of England’s nobility would continue in that spirit of critique by enumerating the errors found in the printed works of fellow historians and heralds. In 1621, Brooke would add William Jaggard to his line of targets as he complained that the 1619 edition’s many errors were the result of sloppy printing. Shown here is a typical opening with individual arms followed by genealogical descriptions. This second of the Fisher’s two copies is particularly noteworthy as it has been professionally hand-coloured throughout. Look carefully and you can see the pasted slip-on correction of the Earl’s coronet for Robert Sackville.
Robert Glover (1544-1588). Nobilitas politica vel ciuilis. London: William Jaggard, 1608.
Robert Glover’s genealogical survey of English royalty and nobility, Nobilitas politica vel ciuilis, was posthumously published in 1608 nearly twenty years after his death. With its generous margins, specialized Anglo-Saxon type, and numerous full-page engravings, this large folio marked one of the most ambitious printings of William Jaggard’s career. Shown here is the work’s most magnificent image: an engraving of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) in parliament, complete with high officials, MPs, scribes and other attendees. The Fisher’s copy was previously owned by Sidney Fisher.
Homer. The Whole Works of Homer. Translated by George Chapman. London: Printed for Nathaniell Butter, 1616.
While Arthur Hall would translate ten books of Homer’s Iliad into English in 1581, George Chapman was the first Englishman to produce printed translations of both the Iliad and Odyssey in a series of editions between 1598 and 1624. William Hole’s engraved title page of the 1616 works, shown here, has the Iliad’s legendary rivals Achilles and Hector flank either side of the title and imprint while an angel looks down on a crowned Homer from above.
Thomas Milles (1550?-1627?). The Catalogue of Honor. London: Printed by William Jaggard, 1610.
Milles’s The Catalogue of Honor is essentially an English translation and expansion of Robert Glover’s Nobilitas politica vel ciuilis. Rather than produce new images for Milles’s work, William Jaggard cut costs by recycling the many engravings used in his Glover imprint, including the illustration of Elizabeth at Parliament shown in this case. The title page shown here is the only engraving new to the imprint. As the classical figures at its centre inscribe Latin words into a stone tablet, they reflect the author’s and printer’s similar attempts to record and archive the past in print. The Fisher’s second copy, shown here, contains various hand-coloured arms as well as contemporary manuscript corrections and annotations throughout.