Peter Short (printer) facts for kids

Peter Short was an English printer who lived in London during the time of Queen Elizabeth I (this period is called the Elizabethan era). He was active until his death in 1603. Peter Short was important because he printed some of the very first copies of plays and poems by the famous writer William Shakespeare.

Peter Short's Printing Business

Peter Short became a full member of the Stationers Company on March 1, 1589. This company was like a guild for people who made and sold books. Becoming a "freeman" meant he could run his own business. He started his printing shop that same year and worked there until he died. For a few years, until 1593, he worked with a partner named Richard Yardley.

His shop was on Bread Street Hill, and its sign was a star. Peter Short printed many different kinds of books. About one-third of the books he printed were translations from Latin or other European languages.

In 1597, Peter Short also started printing music. He printed important music books like Thomas Morley's A Plaine and Easy Introduction and Canzonets. He also printed John Dowland's First Book of Songs and Holborne's Cittharn School. The printing types (the metal letters used for printing) that Short used were later passed on to other printers after him.

During this time, the jobs of a "publisher" (who decides what books to make) and a "printer" (who actually prints the books) were often separate. Peter Short was mostly a printer. He printed over 170 different works during his career. For about 100 of these, we know who the publisher was. Peter Short likely published many of the other books himself.

Important Works Peter Short Printed

Besides the works by William Shakespeare, Peter Short printed several other very important books:

• The famous first edition of De Magnete by William Gilbert in 1600. This book was about magnets and the Earth's magnetism.
• The 1601 edition of the Annals by John Stow. This book was a history of England.
• He finished printing the fifth edition (in 1597) of Acts and Monuments, or Book of Martyrs by John Foxe. This was a very popular book about Christian martyrs.
• He also printed the first edition (1600) of Marlowe's translation of Pharsalia by Lucan. This was for a publisher named Thomas Thorpe.

In music, Peter Short printed John Dowland's First Booke of Songes or Ayres in 1597. This was the most popular music collection of that time. He also printed Thomas Morley's important book about music theory, A Plaine and Easie Introduction to Musicke, also in 1597.

Shakespeare's Works Printed by Short

Peter Short printed several important works by William Shakespeare:

• The first small book (called a first quarto) of Henry VI, Part 3 in 1595. This was for a publisher named Thomas Millington. This version was an early text of Shakespeare's play, sometimes called The True Tragedy of Richard Duke of York.
• The first small book (quarto) of Henry IV, Part 1 in 1598. This was for Andrew Wise.
• The fifth edition of Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis in 1599. This was a smaller book (called an octavo edition) for William Leake.

For a publisher named Cuthbert Burby, Short printed Palladis Tamia in 1598 by Francis Meres. This book is important because it mentions Shakespeare and lists some of his plays that had been performed by 1598.

Other Plays Printed by Short

Peter Short also printed a few other plays that were not by Shakespeare:

• For Cuthbert Burby, he printed two early versions of The Taming of a Shrew (in 1594 and 1596). This play was an early version of Shakespeare's The Shrew.
• For William Ponsonby, he printed a play called Antony in 1595. This play was translated from French by the Countess of Pembroke.
• For Simon Waterson, he printed the third edition of Samuel Daniel's Cleopatra in 1598.
• For William Holme, Short printed one of the three editions of Jonson's play Every Man Out of His Humour that came out in the year 1600.

Because of his connection to Shakespeare's works, experts have studied Peter Short's printing shop to learn more about how books were made back then.

Death and Legacy

Peter Short died in 1603. After his death, his wife, Emma Short, continued to run their printing business. In 1604, she married Humphrey Lownes, who was also a member of the Stationers Company.