Thomas Creede facts for kids

Thomas Creede was a famous printer who lived in London during the time of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I (from about 1593 to 1617). He was known as "one of the best" printers of his time. He ran his printing business from different locations in London. First, he was on Thames Street, and his shop sign was the Catherine Wheel (from 1593 to 1600). Later, he moved to the Old Exchange, where his sign was the Eagle and Child (from 1600 to 1617). Creede is most famous for printing many plays from the English Renaissance theatre, especially ten different versions of six plays by William Shakespeare. He also printed three plays that some people thought were by Shakespeare but weren't officially confirmed.

What Did a Printer Do?

Back in Creede's time, printing books and selling them were usually separate jobs. People called "stationers" or "booksellers" would publish books, meaning they would pay for the book to be made and then sell it. They would hire professional printers, like Thomas Creede, to actually print the pages. Most of the time, Creede worked as a printer for these booksellers. However, he also published some books himself, which means he paid for the printing and then sold them too.

Shakespeare's Plays Printed by Creede

Thomas Creede printed many important plays by Shakespeare for different booksellers:

• For a bookseller named Thomas Millington, Creede printed an early version of Henry VI, Part 2 in 1594.
• For Andrew Wise, he printed Richard III in 1598 and again in 1602.
• Later, for Matthew Law (who bought the rights to Richard III), Creede printed Richard III in 1605 and 1612.
• For Cuthbert Burby, Creede printed a good version of Romeo and Juliet in 1599.
• For Thomas Millington and John Busby, Creede printed an early, less accurate version of Henry V in 1600. These less accurate versions are sometimes called "bad quartos."
• For Thomas Pavier, Creede printed another "bad quarto" of Henry V in 1602.
• For Arthur Johnson, he printed a "bad quarto" of The Merry Wives of Windsor in 1602.
• For Henry Gosson, Creede worked with another printer, William White, to print Pericles, Prince of Tyre in 1609.
• For Nathaniel Butter, Creede printed The London Prodigal in 1605. This play was listed as being by "William Shakespeare" on its title page, but it's one of the plays that experts now believe was not actually written by him.
• For Arthur Johnson, Creede also printed The Merry Devil of Edmonton in 1612, another play not truly by Shakespeare.

Other Plays and Books Printed

Beyond Shakespeare, Creede printed many other plays. For example, he printed The Maid's Metamorphosis and The Wisdom of Doctor Dodypoll in 1600. He also printed plays by famous writers like George Chapman and Beaumont and Fletcher.

One very important book Creede printed was The Tragedy of Mariam in 1613, written by Elizabeth Tanfield Cary. This was the first original tragedy play written by a woman to be published in English!

Creede also printed a famous pamphlet by Robert Greene called Greene's Groats-Worth of Wit in 1592. This book is important because it has the earliest known mention of Shakespeare in a play setting. He also printed Microcynicon by Thomas Middleton in 1599, which was later stopped from being sold by the Archbishop of Canterbury.

Creede didn't just print plays. He also printed many other kinds of books. In 1597, he printed a popular book of poems called The Shepherd's Calendar by Edmund Spenser. He also printed many popular adventure stories about knights and heroes, which were very popular at the time. For example, he printed Parismus, the Renowned Prince of Bohemia in 1598.

Creede as a Publisher

Sometimes, Thomas Creede was both the printer and the publisher of a book. This means he managed the printing process and also took on the job of selling the books. He published ten plays early in his career:

• A Looking Glass for London and England in 1594 and 1598.
• Selimus in 1594.
• The Pedlar's Prophecy in 1595.
• The Famous Victories of Henry V in 1598. This play is thought to be a source for Shakespeare's own play about Henry V.
• The Scottish History of James IV in 1598.
• Menaechmi in 1595.
• The True Tragedy of Richard III in 1594.
• Locrine in 1595. This is another play that some people thought might have been revised by Shakespeare.
• Alphonsus King of Aragon in 1599.
• Sir Clyomon and Sir Clamydes in 1599.

When Creede published books, he was usually very accurate about who wrote them. For example, he correctly said that James IV was by Robert Greene and that A Looking Glass for London was by Greene and Thomas Lodge. This makes experts think that when he said Locrine was revised by someone with the initials "W. S.," it might have been true.

Creede also published other types of books, not just plays. He published poetry books, religious books, and even a famous book called Utopia by Sir Thomas More in 1597. He also published The True Law of Free Monarchies by King James I in 1603. He printed and published books by other writers of his time, like Thomas Dekker's The Wonderful Year 1603, which was about the terrible plague epidemic.

Creede's Reputation

Thomas Creede was known as a very skilled printer. However, because he printed some of the "bad quartos" of Shakespeare's plays and plays that were wrongly attributed to Shakespeare, some scholars have wondered about his business practices.

Around 1616, Creede started working with another printer named Bernard Alsop. Alsop took over the business in 1617, which is when Creede likely died or retired.