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The Printer of the Third Volume of
Jonson's
Workes (1640)
by
D. F. McKenzie
The 1640 folio edition of Jonson's Workes is composed of at least three bibliographically distinct books: the first volume, a reprint by Richard Bishop of the 1616 folio (S.T.C. 14753); the sheets of the abortive 1631 folio of Jonson's new work, described as 'The second Volume' but containing only the three plays Bartholomew Fair, The Devil is an Ass and The Staple of News, all printed by John Beale; and then what Greg has described as 'the third volume', made up of the later masques, last plays, The Underwood, the two entertainments, the translation from Horace's Art of Poetry, The English Grammar and Timber, or Discoveries (S.T.C. 14754).
In his admirable account of this collection, Greg wrote: 'The third volume bears no name of either printer or publisher. The only ornament is a factotum at the beginning of the masques, and of this there were several copies: the ownership of the present block has not so far been established.'[1] In fact, in 1639-40, this block belonged to John Dawson Junior and it was he who printed 'the third volume'.
The story of the printing and publishing of the book is complex but it is told succinctly by Greg and there is no point in repeating it here. It is sufficient to say that the material for it was secured by the bookseller Thomas Walkley and that it was he who placed it with John Dawson for printing.
This 'third volume' has three sets of signatures which may be recorded briefly as: 2: B-Q4 R2 S-X4 Y2 Z-2O4 2P2 2Q4; 2A-P4 Q2 R-V4; 3A-K4 L2 M-R4. That the printer was John Dawson Junior may be proved on the evidence of one factotum depicting Salome receiving the head of John the Baptist, and two upper case, French Canon 'H's. Their combined testimony removes all doubt.
First, the factotum. It appears at B1, the first page of Christmas, his Masque, in the Jonson folio. The identical block, with the same characteristic marks of damage, also appears at the following points in books printed by John Dawson in 1639 and 1640: at E6 and F6 of R. Ward, Animadversions of Warre, 1639 (S.T.C. 25025); at 2E2 of vol. III of G. Saulnier, The Love and Armes of the Greeke Princes, 1640 (S.T.C. 21775; this work was
Also at B1 of the Jonson 'third volume' (in the word 'CHRISTMAS') appears the first of the two 'H's which may be evidenced as Dawson's (it lacks its lower right serif). This recurs at 3A1 (in the word 'HIS') and at 3I3v (in the word 'THE') of the same book, and also at O2, 2Y2, 2Z4 and 3I4 of Threnoikos. The second 'H' (it has a small crack leading from the inner edge of the upper left arm) appears at 2R1 of Jonson (in the word 'SHEPHERD') and at A1 and 4F1 of Threnoikos. It may also be found in another book printed for Walkley in 1640, although the printer is not given, namely The Third Speech of Lord George Digby (S.T.C. 6844), where it appears on A2.
There are many other display letters which link the several parts of Walkley's section of the Jonson folio with one another and with books printed by Dawson. An 'R' at R1 of Jonson recurs at A1 of T. Nashe, Miscelanea, 1639 (S.T.C. 18384), at π1 of J. Stoughton, Seven Sermons, 1640 (S.T.C. 2311), and on the section title preceding B1 as well as at H3 of Threnoikos. A 'D' at 3I3v of Jonson recurs at A1 of W. Wood, New Englands Prospect, 1639 (S.T.C. 25959), at A1 of Miscelanea, on the section title preceding B1, and at L6 and 3H2 of Threnoikos. An 'E' at F4 and Q3v of Jonson recurs at 2M3 of Cervantes, Exemplarie Novells, 1640 (S.T.C. 4914), and at F3 and 2Z5 of Threnoikos. A 'T' at 2I4 of Jonson (in the word 'THAT') recurs at N2 of Threnoikos and A2 of The Third Speech. A 'C' at D3v of Jonson recurs at 2B3 of Threnoikos and H4 of Exemplarie Novells. A 'Q' at G4, M1 and S1 of Jonson recurs at 3I4 of Threnoikos. And a 'P' at V2v of Jonson recurs at *1 of G.A., Pallas Armata, 1639 (S.T.C. 3), A1 of T. Carew, Poems, 1640 (S.T.C. 4620, also printed for Walkley), and at A2 of Exemplarie Novells.
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