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ca. 1605
The register of Stratford’s court of record, which would have begun in 1601, has not survived and the only knowledge we have of its proceedings are to be found in loose case papers.
July 24, 1605
An attorney would have initially drafted the deed conveying the lease of half the Stratford tithes to Shakespeare, before a clerk or scrivener engrossed the final copy.
ca. 1606
In several scenes, the Cambridge University play Progress to Parnassus mocks the literary tastes and talents of the London commercial stage, depicting Shakespeare as a popular but unsophisticated playwright and poet.
ca. August 1, 1606
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Printed as 1602, possibly 1607
The title page of the eighth edition of Venus and Adonis claims that it was printed in 1602 by William Leake, who had acquired the rights to Venus and Adonis in 1596. However, it was printed illegally in 1607 by Robert Raworth.
1607
The fifth edition of Lucrece was printed in 1607 by Nicholas Okes for John Harrison III, who had also published the fourth edition.
August 17, 1608
On August 17, 1608, William Shakespeare (or his family or agents acting on his behalf) began an action in the Stratford court of record to recover a debt of £6 from John Addenbrooke. The case dragged on until at least June 7, 1609.
1608
Working with printer William White, Matthew Law published the fourth edition of Richard II in 1608.
1608
At some point in 1608, Mathew Law re-published Richard II, including a new title page.
1608
This is the first edition of King Lear. It was printed in 1608 by Nicholas Okes, most likely within a year of when Nathaniel Butter and John Busby registered the play with the Stationers’ Company on November 26, 1607.
