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All Documents
February 2 and March 13, 1602
The earliest mention of Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night is in a notebook of gossip, observations and sermon notes kept by John Manningham while a law student at Middle Temple, one of the Inns of Court in London.
June 25, 1603
Richard III, Richard II, and Henry IV Part 1 were all transferred to publisher Matthew Law from publisher Andrew Wise in an entry in Liber C of the Stationers' Company, dated June 25, 1603.
1605
This is the fourth edition of Richard III, printed in 1605. On June 25, 1603, Andrew Wise, who published the first three editions, transferred the rights to Matthew Law.
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.
1609- 1610
The poet and courtier Sir John Harington left behind tantalizing lists of plays written by Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, Thomas Heywood, and others. Around 1609 he compiled two lists of play quartos almost certainly in his personal collection.
1612
This is the fifth edition of Richard III, printed in 1612. Like the fourth edition, it was printed by Thomas Creede for Matthew Law.
ca. 1620
This scrap of paper, subsequently used as a bookmark, includes eight Shakespeare quotations from Richard III and Pericles.
1622
This is the sixth edition of Richard III, printed in 1622 for Matthew Law. However, Thomas Creede, the printer for the second through fifth editions, died in 1616 and Law turned to Thomas Purfoot to print this edition.
