three publications which he issued in
that year. {395c} But his other undertakings were described on their
title-pages as printed for him by one stationer and sold for him by
another; and when any address found mention at all, it was the
shopkeeper's address, and not his own. He never enjoyed in permanence
the profits or dignity of printing his 'copy' at a press of his own, or
selling books on premises of his own, and he can claim the distinction of
having pursued in this homeless fashion the well-defined profession of
procurer of manuscripts for a longer period than any other known member
of the Stationers' Company. Though many others began their career in
that capacity, all except Thorpe, as far as they can be traced, either
developed into printers or booksellers, or, failing in that, betook
themselves to other trades.

Very few of his wares does Thorpe appear to have procured direct from the
authors. It is true that between 1605 and 1611 there were issued under
his auspices some eight volumes of genuine literary value, including,
besides Shakespeare's 'Sonnets,' three plays by Chapman, {395d} four
works of Ben Jonson, and Coryat's 'Odcombian Banquet.' But the taint of
mysterious origin attached to most of his literary properties. He
doubtless owed them to the exchange of a few pence or shillings with a
scrivener's hireling; and the transaction was not one of which the author
had cognisance.

Shakespeare's sufferings at publishers' hands.

It is quite plain that no negotiation with the author preceded the
formation of Thorpe's resolve to publish for the first time Shakespeare's
'Sonnets' in 1609. Had Shakespeare associated himself with the
enterprise, the world would fortunately have been spared Thorpe's
dedication to 'Mr. W. H.' T. T.'s' place would have been filled by 'W.
S.' The whole transaction was in Thorpe's vein. Shakespeare's 'Sonnets'
had been already circulating in manuscript for eleven years; only two had
as yet been printed, and those were issued by the pirate publisher,
William Jaggard, in the fraudulently christened volume, 'The Passionate
Pilgrim, by William Shakespeare,' in 1599. Shakespeare, except in the
case of his two narrative poems, showed utter indifference to all
questions touching the publication of his works. Of the sixteen plays of
his that were published in his lifetime, not one was printed with his
sanction. He made no audible protest when seven contemptible dramas in