Venus and Adonis, ninth edition

The ninth edition of Venus and Adonis was printed for William Leake and was dated 1602 on the title page, just like the eighth edition. However, Harry Farr argued in 1923 that it was actually printed in 1608, and identifies the printer as Humphrey Lownes. Since 1923, scholars have disputed the reasons behind the false imprint.

Although Shakespeare is now known primarily as a playwright, in his own time he was equally revered as the author of Venus and Adonis, first printed in 1593, and Lucrece, his two sensationally successful Ovidian narrative poems. Venus and Adonis appeared in more printed editions than any other work of vernacular poetry in his lifetime, and was published twice as many times as his most successful play, Henry IV Part 1. 

Only two copies of this edition are known to survive. The copy shown here has been in the British Library since the 19th century. It bears the stamp of Shakespearean editor George Steevens on the reverse of the title page, and was subsequently owned by the book collectors James Bindley, Mr. Strettel of Canonbury, and George Daniel. The book’s value increased steadily throughout the 19th century, and Daniel made a small profit when he sold it to the British Museum. It became a part of the British Library's collections in 1972 under the British Library Act. The other known copy is owned by a private collector.

To learn more about the plot and early printing history of Venus and Adonis, please visit the Folger Shakespeare Library's Shakespeare's Works; to read a modernized edition of the poem, see the Folger Shakespeare edition.