University of Virginia Library

III

Although few of Trundle's titles are of intrinsic interest as literature, investigating the publication history of some of them does throw light on his methods, at times none too scrupulous, in the pursuit of manuscripts.

Enough speculation already exists concerning the publication of Hamlet not to need addition here. However, it is worth remarking that Trundle's

practices, at least later in his career, and the contrasting habits of Ling, who regularly financed the publication of copy for other stationers, support the conjecture that it was Trundle who came into the possession of this manuscript. It is moreover difficult to see how otherwise he could have gained a share in its publication. One other circumstance is worthy of notice. Since much has been made of the connections between James Roberts and Ling, not only in the fact that Roberts printed the second edition of the play for Ling but also that he was and continued to be Ling's favorite printer, it should be noted that he also appears to have printed for Trundle. The first of these printings is of interest both with regard to this connection and for what it reveals of Trundle's methods early in his career.

On 27 July 1603 Trundle made his first entry in the Register, for "A Relation of many visitations by the plague &c." (Arber, 3:243), which shows that he already aimed to capitalize on current events. There is, however, no record of a publication with exactly this title. Instead there are two extant issues of a plague bill entitled A true bill of the whole number that hath died in the Cittie of London. . . . One issue (STC 16743.2) covers deaths to "October the sixt day, 1603" and is signed "Henry Chettle"; the other (STC 16743.3) is unsigned and presents the statistics to "October the 20. day." The imprint on both issues reads: "At London printed by I. R. for Iohn Trundle, and are to be sold at his shop in Barbican, neere Long lane end." Wilson says that this bill was "piratically" printed (The Plague in London, p. 192, n. 3), evidently because it infringed the patent granted to John Windet on 1 August 1603 for "the billes of suche as Dye and are buried this yere of the plague and other sicknesses. . ." (Arber, 3:243). But this bill also includes, as the sub-title indicates, "a relation of many visitations by the plague, in sundry other forraine Countries," in the form of brief notices of the ravages of the plague from Roman times, accounting for approximately half of the text. Had this publication been challenged (there is no record that Windet protested), Trundle could thus have cited his entrance of 27 July as at least a specious defense. At some point it occurred to him that he might improve sales by appending statistics of the current plague to this text, which also meant that the same text could be published weekly with updated statistics.[19]

If Roberts indeed printed this bill, as the initials indicate, and if RSTC is correct in ascribing to his press the 1606 print of the play Nobody and Somebody for Trundle, then Trundle resorted to Roberts's print-shop in Barbican at about the same time as and later than the initial publication of

Hamlet.[20] Apparently Roberts held no grudge against either Ling or Trundle, the putative filcher of the manuscript, over this apparent infringement of copyright.

Other instances, however, show Trundle taking more conventional routes for the acquisition of copy. He was involved in the publication of six (perhaps seven) titles of the works of Thomas Dekker, including two plays.[21] These manuscripts were apparently acquired from the author. The Double PP, 1606, was published anonymously, but Dekker wrote a dedication for a separate issue of this work (STC 6498 and .5). He also wrote dedications for The Dead Terme, 1608 (STC 6496), The Artillery Garden, 1616 (STC 6475.5), and A Rod for Run-aways, 1625 (STC 6520, two editions). The two plays were also evidently published with Dekker's consent. He wrote an address, "Lectori," for The Whore of Babylon, 1607 (BEPD, #241) and a dedication for If It Be not Good, 1612 (BEPD, #305).

Most of Trundle's other plays also were apparently procured from authorized sources, though whether from the author or the acting company is not always clear.[22] The address "To the Reader and Hearer" in The Fleer, 1607 (entered by Trundle jointly but assigned before publication), implies that the play was published with the knowledge of the author, Edward Sharpham (BEPD, #255). A Faire Quarrell, 1617 (BEPD, #352), bears a dedication from William Rowley. The second issue of this play, however, includes an added scene of "Mr. Chaughs and Trimtrams Roaring, and the Bauds Song," comic material that must have been a feature of the stage production. Middleton, in his dedication to The World Tost at Tennis, 1620 (BEPD, #365), avers that this masque was "brought to the press rather by the printer than the poet. . . ." Jo. Cook's Greenes Tuquoque, 1614 (BEPD, #323), may have come from the acting company. The wording of Thomas Heywood's epistle for this play suggests that Cook was dead. Heywood also states that he cannot "tell whether this worke was diuulged with [Cook's] consent or no: but howsoeuer, since it hath past the Test of the stage with so generall an applause, pitty it were but it should likewise haue the honour of the Presse." Of the play copy (excluding Hamlet), only The Isle of Gulls, 1606 (BEPD, #235 and Nobody and Somebody, 1606 (BEPD, #229) contain no evidence of

provenance, though the former of these appears to have been set from an authorial manuscript (Harrison, p. ix).

The only other author for whom Trundle published several titles was John Taylor. Trundle brought out five titles by this prolific author during the years 1620-1623, two independently and three in association with Henry Gosson. His connection with Taylor was probably through Gosson, who was one of Taylor's favorite publishers. Beginning in 1612, Gosson published at least thirty-four of Taylor's works.

In the light of the above, Shaaber's characterization of Trundle as a "busy miracle-monger and father of lies" (p. 291) seems both overly dramatic and ungenerous. But Shaaber has in mind several "news" pamphlets published by Trundle between 1607 and 1615. The most famous of these was True and Wonderful, 1614, by "A. R.," which reports the appearance, near Horsham in Sussex, of a "monstrous serpent (or Dragon)" that had slain "Men and Cattell, by his strong and violent poyson" (STC 20569). It may be significant that Trundle's entry of this title included the "Caution that if any exceptions be taken he shall stand to the perrill thereof himself" (Arber, 3:553), though it is not clear exactly what risk was involved. The imprint is, however, both laconic and misleading: "Printed at London, by John Trundle." (RSTC identifies the printer as Allde.) Shaaber calls this story "as gross an imposture as cynicism or credulity ever practised" (p. 239). Apparently "A. R." was himself concerned about the reception of his tale, for in his address "To the Reader" (A3-3v), he observes that "the iust Reward of him that is accustomed to lie, is, not to be belieu'd when he speaketh the truth." As well as reporting frightening news, however, the book has a didactic and moralistic purpose. It opens with a long preamble citing the appearances of dragons in history and legend, with numerous quotes in Latin (immediately translated), and the dragon itself is interpreted as one of those progidies of nature like "an Eclips or fearefull Comet" sent as a warning to sinful man "of some Serpentine sinnes that liue amongst vs." Whether this story evoked a frisson or a chuckle is doubtful, but the "dragon" was certainly memorable. Ben Jonson refers to it in News from the New World (acted 1620); Richard Brathwait mentions it in 1631; and a ballad of 1652 promises: "heer's no Sussex Serpent to fright you here in my Bundle, nor was it e-ver Printed for the Widdow Trundle."[23]

Another book of this nature is Fire from Heauen, 1613, by John Hilliard (STC 13507), which purports to tell the story of how one John Hitchell, of Southampton, was miraculously "consumed to ashes, and no fire seene." But,

as Shaaber notices, this story is actually only a detail "tucked away among twenty pages of unabashed homilectics" (p. 204). Shaaber infers from this and other examples that the publishers regularly wrote the title-pages for their publications and that they emphasized the sensational as a selling point (p. 214). This detailed title-page, for example, admonishes the prospective reader to "Reade and tremble."[24] However, Trundle did append to this book an account of a literal fire that had laid waste the town of Dorchester.

More seriously, Shaaber shows that Trundle republished old news reports with dates omitted or current dates inserted. Trundle did not enter the copy for Three Bloodie Murders, 1613 (STC 18287). As Shaaber establishes, the first of these murder cases, that of W. Storre, is a reprint of STC 23295, published by J. Barnes at Oxford in 1603. In the reprint, "the text of the 1603 edition is faithfully followed, even down to the testimonials of good character, except all the tell-tale dates are omitted" (pp. 290-291). The other two cases are dated 2 July 1613 and are apparently current. Another example of this practice is A Miracle of Miracles, 1614, by "I. T." This book contains a tale of a headless bear that afflicted a woman in Somerset, a tale of a country maid in Germany who supposedly died and then revived to prophesy to her family and neighbors, and an account of a flood in Lincolnshire (STC 14068 and .3). Of these, Trundle had entered only the latter, with the proviso that it is "to be printed when it is further allowed" (Arber, 3:357). Shaaber identifies the headless bear tale as a reprint of STC 5681, printed for Thomas Nelson in 1584; and his conjecture that the story of the German maid is also an old story is quite correct (pp. 291-292). RSTC points out that this tale is a reprint of STC 21818, which William Wright had published in 1580. In both of these accounts, Trundle changed the dates to give the tales new currency. In this regard, it is amusing to note that the tale of the headless bear resurfaced in 1641 under a new title and with the victim's name changed.[25]

Trundle also updated foreign news items himself. For example, he entered a report of the blasphemer Anthony Painter on 21 January 1614 as "translated out of ffrench" (Arber, 3:540). The title-page states that Painter "dyed the 3. of November. 1613" (STC 19120. The title-page is reproduced in Shaaber, p. 145.). This account is based on Punition Exemplaire et Ivgement de Dieu contre Antonine Panetier (British Library, shelf-mark 5423.aa. 24.[1]). This title-page does not date Painter's death, but the book was published in Paris not later than "29. Aoust 1613" and is itself a translation of an earlier Italian version. Both books also include the case of another blasphemer,

Nicholas le Mesle. His execution is dated "le 27. iour de Ianuier 1599" in the original and "27. of Ianuarie 1613" in Trundle's version.

Trundle evidently resorted to this practice when contemporary events offered no newsworthy items or when some other publisher had already cornered the market. The competition for such items is apparent. Trundle and Busby entered the report of the apprehension, arraignment, and execution of Charles Courtney on 13 March 1612, conditional upon "sufficient further aucthority." The condition was probably due to the fact that they were anticipating the event, for the next entry, of a ballad on the same subject to John Wright, indicates that Courtney was executed on 14 March (Arber, 3:479). Another instance affords a glimpse of publishers scurrying after a lucrative item. On 27 September 1605, Trundle entered a report of the merchant Sir Thomas Smith's "ambassage" to Russia. The entrance is conditional, the copy "to be staid . . . till he bringe further aucthority for yt." But a note appended indicates that the entrance is allowed by "mr Norton" (Arber, 3:302). The edition was then printed "for Nathanyell Butter. 1605" (STC 22869 and .3). This pamphlet recounts events at the Russian court, including "the tragicall ends of two Emperors [one of them Boris Godonov], and one Empresse. . . ." According to the unsigned address "To the Reader," the copy was put together from reports and notes "without consent either of Sir. Tho. himselfe, or of those gentlemen my friends that deliuered it unto me. . . ." Moreover, it appears that several such reports had been cobbled together, for, the address continues, "many way-laid the Newes . . . so that their heads being gotten with child of a Bastard, there was no remedy but they must be deliuered in Paules Church-yard." Apparently Trundle had beat his competitors to the Hall without taking time to get his copy properly licensed and was refused positive entrance until this detail could be cleared to the satisfaction of the warden.[26] If Butter wrote this address, then he may be referring to Trundle as one of the "way-layers." There is no record, however, that Trundle protested Butter's publication, which, together with their later association, suggests that the two reached an agreement.

Another news event which spurred competition among several publishers was the trials of the perpetrators in the poisoning of Sir Thomas Overbury. Shaaber lists fifteen titles associated with the Overbury case, involving eleven different publishers (pp. 142-143).[27] Trundle issued or entered five

titles concerning the malefactors. The first of his entries (missed by Shaaber) shows him closely following the course of events. He entered "The reward of the adulterer and adulteresse paid by gods owne hand," on 19 November 1615, with the approval of an official licenser (Arber, 3:577). No copy of this title has survived, but it apparently referred to the executions of the criminals in that month. A note at the conclusion of The Iust Downfall (STC 18919.7) calls the reader's attention to it as "a little Table, called the Spectacles . . ." (D4v). It was evidently a woodcut accompanied by text. Trundle's titles were not "news" in any strict sense but purported first-person accounts of the "repentances" and "tears" of the criminals. The lag between the event and the entrance suggests that there may have been a delay in getting some of the items licensed, perhaps due to the implications to high-ranking nobility. For example, Trundle entered "A little poeme called Mistris Turnores teares" on 29 November 1615 (Arber, 3:579), fifteen days after Anne Turner's execution. On 19 December 1615 Butter entered a report of the speech that Sir Jervis Elwes made at his execution on 20 November; this entry is followed by Trundle's for a ballad "of the same matter" (Arber, 3:580). However, Trundle did publish two single sheet folios of verses without entrance: Mistris Turners Farewell to All Women (STC 24341.5) and Iames Franklin . . . His Owne Arraignment (STC 11332.5. A related title was published by Henry Gosson, STC 11332).

As well as exploiting current events, Trundle also responded to popular controversies. Two of his most interesting pamphlets Hic Mulier: Or, The Man-Woman (STC 13374, two editions) and Haec-Vir: Or The Womanish-Man (STC 12599) are his contributions to the argument concerning the position of women, a controversy sparked, in the press at least, by Joseph Swetnam's The Araignment of Lewd, Idle, Froward and Unconstant Women, 1615 (STC 23533, et. seq.). This tract went through ten editions during 1615-1637 and prompted a host of answers and rebuttals (see RSTC). Trundle registered his first title on February 9; the second followed a week later and is a reply to the first (Arber, 3:665). The closeness of these entries suggests to Wright "that the reply was already in manuscript and that the two were designed as a bookseller's effort to capitalize on popular interest in both sides of the controversy" (p. 494). Wright has high praise for Haec Vir: it is "a vigorous dialogue, at times eloquent in the sincere defense of woman's right to personal freedom" (p. 495), and "the Areopagitica of the London woman. . ." (p. 497). Both pamphlets are anonymous, but, according to the editor of the facsimile edition of the tracts, the "differences in style and attitude indicate that two writers were involved." This editor suggests that "Trundle may have commissioned them as a contribution to the continuing argument set off by" Swetnam's tract.[28]

Some of Trundle's other titles fit roughly into Shaaber's "feature story"

category (p. 160). Whereas several of these emphasize the sensational or moralistic elements of the story, others are straight-forward reports of events. For example, Anthony Nixon's Oxfords Triumph (STC 18589) describes James I's state visit to Oxford at the end of August, 1605. The king was entertained by learned debates on such subjects as "Whether the Saints and Angels doe know the thoughts of our hearts" and (more topically) "Whether in the time of Pestilence the pastors of the Church are tyed to visit the infected?" (Unfortunately we are not told the substance of the disputation, though this debate took "the space of two hours" [B3v-4]). The king's oration to the university is printed in Latin, then in English, and we learn that, on the final evening, "there was a Comedie plaied by saint Iohns men before his Maiestie," who was highly pleased with it (E1v). Similarly Newes of Sr. Walter Rauleigh, 1618 (STC 17148, two issues) and Three to One, 1626 (STC 19529, two editions), are relatively unadorned accounts. The first, based on letters sent "from a Gentleman of his Fleet," describes the first part of Raleigh's ill-fated voyage. The second is Richard Peeke's lively account of his exploits in the Spanish war. (Reprinted in Stuart Tracts 1603-1693.) On the other hand, A Bloody Tragedy, or Romish Maske, 1607 (STC 14526.5) and A Nunnes Prophesie, or the Fall of Friars, 1615 (STC 18747) trade upon anti-Catholic sentiment. The former is an especially lurid account of how five Jesuit priests in Germany held sixteen German "maides" in bondage and then ritually executed them once they had become pregnant.

It is possible that Trundle himself put together, edited, or translated some of the copy that he published. The "editing" is apparent in those instances in which he changed the dates of old books. Thus the "I. T." of A Miracle of Miracles may refer to him (see above). His entry of "newes out of Germany" is said to be "translated out of the Dutch and French copie by. J. T∧" (Arber, 3:361). Another book, The Hunting of the Pox, 1619 (STC 23624.7) is ascribed to "I. T.," but the entry specifies that this is "J. T. of Westminster" (Arber, 3:642). However, "John T." wrote a dedication "to his best re-spected Friend, Mr. Roger Taylor" for Keepe within Compass: or the Worthy Legacy of a Wise Father to His Beloued Sonne, 1619 (STC 14898.5 et seq.). The dedication states that "it is my true knowledge of you, and my truer loue vnto you, which makes mee send this poore instant of my braine, and slender Collections to kisse your hand . . ." (A2-2v). This is a book of advice, counselling moderation in areas such as "Religion," "Apparell," and "Dyet." As far as available records show, it was Trundle's closest approach to a best-seller. Though most of the surviving copies are imperfect, it evidently went through several editions for Trundle. He assigned the title to John Wright in 1623 (Arber, 4:90), and Wright then published a "tenth impression".[29]

Such a book was, however, a rarity for Trundle. Normally his titles demanded no more than one edition, or in some few instances a second edition

following immediately upon the first. A publisher of ephemeral pamphlet literature, however, could not count on reprints to keep him afloat; instead he had to be enterprising and versatile in his pursuit of copy. Some authors such as Dekker and Taylor could be counted on to produce with fair consistency. Playwrights and acting companies were good sources, provided that the latter could be persuaded to part with their manuscripts. There were also the hack writers who could be employed to turn out verses on a current event, which could then be hurried onto the street as a ballad or broadside. All of the above, of course, had to be paid, which cut into the already slim profit margin that Trundle enjoyed; moreover they could not always be depended upon. A cheaper source was foreign pamphlets; these required only the services of a translator. Even more expedient, and cheaper, were old pamphlets that had already been published. These evidently did not even require license or entrance fees, and the publisher himself could do the minor editing to give them new currency. It is apparent that the profit motive and the pressure of competition fostered these and other sharp practices. Title-pages promised an astonishment that the text did not deliver. And in some instances, such as the Sussex dragon, it may be suspected that the publisher made a sensation out of a "non-event," a practice all too familiar in our own time.

In the absence of a will or inventory, it is not easy to judge Trundle's success in the trade, but there are some indications that his success did not equal his notoriety. For one thing, his manner of working with associates meant that his profits, although they might be better assured, were less. His assignments of titles, increasing in frequency in the 1620's, suggest that he was in need of ready money (see Arber, 4:44, 58, 90, and 101). Finally, his widow's apparent failure in the trade may reflect not only her lack of business sense but also the condition of Trundle's estate at his death.

WORKS CITED

• Arber, Edward. A Transcript of the Registers of the Company of Stationers of London; 1554-1640. 5 volumes. 1875-94; rpt. Peter Smith, Gloucester, Mass., 1967.
• Bentley, Gerald Eades. The Jacobean and Caroline Stage. Vol. II. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1941.
• Bligh, E. W. Sir Kenelm Digby and His Venetia. London: Sampson Low, Marston & Co., 1932.
• Feather, John. "Cross-Channel Currents: historical bibliography and l'histoire du livre." 6 Library 2 (1980), 1-15.
• Greg, W. W. "The Two Issues of Day's Isle of Gulls, 1606." 4 Library 3 (1922-23), 307-09.
• Greg, W. W. The Shakespeare First Folio. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955.
• Greg, W. W. A Bibliography of the English Printed Drama to the Restoration. 4 Vols. 1939-59; rpt. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1970.
• Greg, W. W., ed. A Companion to Arber. Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1967.
• Harrison, G. B., intro. The Ile of Gvls, 1606. Shakespeare Association Facsimiles, No. 12. Oxford Univ. Press, 1936.
• Herford, C. H. and Percy and Evelyn Simpson, eds. Ben Jonson. Vols. VI, VII, X. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1938, 1941, 1950.
• Hic Mulier . . . Haec-vir [facsimile edition]. The Rota, University of Exeter. Ilkley, Yorkshire: Scolar Press, 1973.
• Jackson, William A., ed. Records of the Court of the Stationers' Company 1602 to 1640. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1957.

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• Johnson, Gerald D. "Nicholas Ling, Publisher, 1580-1607." Studies in Bibliography, 38 (1985), 203-214.
• Johnson, Gerald D. "John Busby and the Stationers' Trade 1590-1612." 6 Library 7 (1985), forthcoming.
• McKenzie, D. F. Stationers' Company Apprentices 1605-1640. Charlottesville: The Bibliographical Society of the Univ. of Virginia, 1961.
• McKerrow, R. B. et al. A Dictionary of the Printers and Booksellers . . . 1557-1640. 1910; rpt. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1977.
• Miller, William E. "Printers and Stationers in the Parish of St. Giles Cripplegate 1561-1640." Studies in Bibliography, 19 (1966), 15-38.
• Plomer, H. R. "A Cavalier's Library." Library N.S. 5 (1904), 158-172.
• Shaaber, M. A. Some Forerunners of the Newspaper in England 1476-1622. 1929; rpt. New York, Octagon Books, 1966.
• A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England . . . 1475-1640, compiled by A. W. Pollard & G. R. Redgrave. 1926; rpt. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1969; Second Edition, Revised and Enlarged, by W. A. Jackson, F. S. Ferguson, and Katherine F. Pantzer. Vol. II. London: The Bibliographical Society, 1976.
• Spufford, Margaret. Small Books and Pleasant Histories: Popular Fiction and Its Readership in Seventeenth-Century England. Athens: Univ. of Georgia Press, 1981.
• Treadwell, Michael. "London Trade Publishers 1675-1750." 6 Library 4 (1982), 99-134.
• Wilson, F. P. The Plague Pamphlets of Thomas Dekker. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1925.
• Wilson, F. P. The Plague in Shakespeare's London 1927; rpt. Oxford Univ. Press, 1963.
• Wright, Louis B. Middle-Class Culture in Elizabethan England. 1935; rpt. New York: Octagon Books, 1980.