- description
- # LUCRECE
## Overview
This section, titled "LUCRECE," details the copyright transfers and publication history of Shakespeare's poem *Lucrece* from 1614 to 1655. It outlines the various owners of the copyright and the printers responsible for different editions during this period. The section is part of a larger chapter, [III](arke:01KG6S4EM1AKPD5T35XS8GTZ8A), and was extracted from the text file [pdf-01KG6Q7Q25RHMFT3SJXPV18VFF.txt](arke:01KG6S2X2EBB305ENM00G16GWA) within the [PDF Workflow Main Test 2026-01-30T00:26:53](arke:01KG6NWQ2H2K4PGG7H4ZHYCZ3Y) collection.
## Context
This section follows [IV](arke:01KG6S5HRF1NKR6AWDW9DMX1JN), which introduced the initial copyright ownership of *Lucrece* by John Harrison and its transfer to Roger Jackson in 1612. It precedes the section [The text and typography of the first edition.](arke:01KG6S5HRF6GHX2BJNCMRMDNXB), which discusses the authenticity and revisions of the poem's early editions. The content focuses on the commercial aspects of *Lucrece*'s publication after Shakespeare's death.
## Contents
The section begins with the entry of *Lucrece* into Roger Jackson's copies in March 1614. It then traces the copyright's journey through several owners:
* **Roger Jackson:** Held copyright for nearly twelve years, responsible for the 1616 (printed by Thomas Snodham) and 1624 (printed by John Beale) editions.
* **Mistress Jackson (widow of Roger Jackson):** Assigned the copyright to Francis Williams in January 1626.
* **Francis Williams:** Held copyright for over four years, transferring it to John Harrison, junior, in June 1630.
* **John Harrison, junior:** Produced a 1632 edition (printed by R. B., likely Richard Bishop) and retained copyright until his death twenty-three years later.
* **Martha Harrison (widow of John Harrison, junior):** Sold the copyright to another John Harrison (her late husband's nephew) in March 1653.
* **Third John Harrison:** Partnered with William Gilbertson, who, with John Stafford, produced the last 17th-century edition of *Lucrece* in 1655.
The text also includes footnotes providing biographical details about the printers Thomas Snodham and John Beale, and discusses the printer's device used in the 1632 *Lucrece* and 1630 *Pericles* editions.
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- # LUCRECE
[1614] primo Martij 1613[-4]
Entred [to Roger Jackson] for his Coppies by consent of Master John Harrison the eldest and by order of a Court, these 4 books following ijr. viz¹. . . .
- MASCALLES first booke of Cattell
- Master Dentes Sermon of repentance
- RECORDES Arithmeticke.
## LUCRECE
Shakespeare died on April 23, 1616, more than two years after the copyright of *Lucrece* suffered its first transfer. Jackson, the second holder, retained the copyright for nearly twelve years, till his death early in 1626, when it passed to his widow. Jackson was responsible for the editions of 1616 and 1624, the first of which was printed by Thomas Snodham, and the second by John Beale.¹ His widow assigned the book, with her property in twenty-nine other volumes, on January 16, 1626, to Francis Williams. The entry attesting the transfer in the Stationers’ Register runs (iv. 149):—
[1626] 16° Januarij 1625[-6]
Assigned over vnto him [to Francis Williams] by mistris Jackson wife of Roger Jackson Deceased, and by order of a full Court holden this Day. all her estate in the [30] Copies here after mencioned xiii jr.
-23 Lucrece by Shackspeare.
Francis Williams kept the copyright for little more than four years, parting with it on June 29, 1630, to Master
John Harrison, junior,
¹ Snodham, who took up his freedom on June 28, 1602, was apprenticed to Thomas East, or Este, the music-printer, whose surname (*alias* East) he added to his own. Snodham succeeded to his old master’s presses at the sign of the Black Horse in Aldersgate Street. He printed much music, e.g. Campion’s music-books (1610 and 1612). In 1615 Wither’s *Satyre* came from his press. He was active in the trade till his death in 1625. Beale, a
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LUCRECE 29
Harrison, apparently a grandson of the original holder, and the printer of the edition of 1600. (He was Master of the Stationers’ Company in 1638.) This transaction, which involved the transfer to ‘Master Harison’ of over thirty books, is thus entered in the Stationers’ Registers (iv. 237):—
29 Junij 1630.
Assigned over vnto him [i. e. Master Harison] by master Francis Williams and order of a full Court all his estate right title and Interest in the Copies hereafter menconed
viz¹. . . . . xijs vj¹./
Lucrece.
Master Harison produced an edition in 1632, which was printed by R. B. [i. e. Richard Bishop]¹, and he retained the property until his death twenty-three years later. His widow, Martha Harrison, sold it on March 15, 1653, to yet another John Harison (or Harrison), apparently a nephew of her late husband, and the third of the name to hold the property. The third John Harrison was in partnership with William Gilbertson of the Bible in Giltspur Street, who had lately acquired the copyright of *Venus and Adonis*. Under some arrangement with Harrison, Gilbertson produced in 1655, with another coadjutor, John Stafford, the latest edition of *Lucrece* which appeared in the seventeenth century.
master printer from March 1, 1613, and a livery-man of the Stationers’ Company from Feb. 4, 1635, was one of the most prosperous printers of his day.
¹ The initials R. B. alone appear on the title-page, but the full name of Richard Bishop figures as printer for Harrison in the same year of a new edition of John White’s Short Catechism. No other member of the Stationers’ Company, who was a printer, bore the same initials. Robert Bird, who acquired the copyright of *Pericles* in 1630, was a publisher or bookseller only. John Norton printed for him an edition of the play in that year. But it is puzzling to note that the printer’s device with the motto ‘In Domino Confido,’ which appears on the last page of the 1632 *Lucrece*, is found on the title-page of the 1630 *Pericles*.
29
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LUCRECE
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- LUCRECE