Pre-First Folio Period Drama and Printers
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The Tragedie of Mariam, The Faire Queene of Jewry. Written by that learned, vertuous, and truly noble Ladie, E. C.Lady Elizabeth Carew
The Tragedie of Mariam, The Faire Queene of Jewry. Written by that learned, vertuous, and truly noble Ladie, E. C.
London: Printed by Thomas Creede, for Richard Hawkins, 1613
Elizabeth Carew, viscountess of Falkland, wrote The Tragedie of Mariam not for public performance, but for reading or private presentation. It was printed in this first edition by Thomas Creede, who printed the second “Newly corrected” quarto edition of Romeo and Juliet in 1599 and other Shakespeare plays. This is the first published play by an Englishwoman.

Bequest of Mollie Harris Samuels
The History of Don-Quixote of Mançha Vol.1Cervantes
The History of Don-Quixote of Mançha Vol.1
London: Printed for Edward Blount, 1620
In the same year that Isaac Jaggard printed the first English language edition of Bocaccio’s Decameron, Edward Blount published the first English edition of Cervantes’ Don Quixote in this translation by Thomas Shelton. Blount had published the first part of the work in 1612. Three weeks after part two was published in Madrid, he reissued the first part and added part two to make this 2-volume set.
The History of Don-Quixote of Mançha Vol.2Cervantes
The History of Don-Quixote of Mançha Vol.2
London: Printed for Edward Blount, 1620
In the same year that Isaac Jaggard printed the first English language edition of Bocaccio’s Decameron, Edward Blount published the first English edition of Cervantes’ Don Quixote in this translation by Thomas Shelton. Blount had published the first part of the work in 1612. Three weeks after part two was published in Madrid, he reissued the first part and added part two to make this 2-volume set.
Eastward Hoe. As it was playd in the BlackfriersGeorge Chapman, Ben Jonson, John Marston
Eastward Hoe. As it was playd in the Blackfriers
London: For William Aspley, 1605
Eastward Hoe, first performed and published in 1605, was written in response to the very popular Westward Ho, written by Thomas Dekker and John Webster and produced the previous year. Eastward Hoe is famous for its jokes (probably by Marston) about newly arrived Scots who were purchasing knighthoods that offended James I and landed Chapman and Jonson briefly in prison. Marston escaped arrest by leaving town. However, the play made much more fun of the new London middle class, adding a moral tone to the city-comedy genre. The conclusion, probably by Jonson, states: “Now London, look about / And in this moral see thy glass run out.”

Bequest of Mollie Harris Samuels