Valentine Simmes facts for kids
Valentine Simmes was a famous printer who lived a long time ago, during the time of Queen Elizabeth I and King James I in England (from about 1585 to 1622). He worked in London, and his shop was called "the White Swan." Simmes was known as one of the best printers of his time. He printed many important books, including several early versions of plays by the famous writer William Shakespeare.
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A Printer in London
Valentine Simmes started his printing business in 1585. We don't know much about his early life or family. He became a very active printer in London, helping to create many books and plays. Printers like Simmes worked closely with "stationers" or "booksellers." These were the people who sold books.
Printing Shakespeare's Plays
Between 1597 and 1604, Valentine Simmes printed nine different early versions of Shakespeare's plays. These early books were called "quartos" because of their size. He printed them for various booksellers in London.
Plays for Andrew Wise
For a bookseller named Andrew Wise, Simmes printed:
- Richard III, the first version (1597)
- Richard II, the first version (1597)
- Richard II, the second version (1598)
- Richard II, the third version (1598)
Plays for Wise and William Aspley
Simmes also printed these plays for Andrew Wise and William Aspley:
- Henry IV, Part 2, a quarto version (1600)
- Much Ado About Nothing, a quarto version (1600)
Play for Thomas Millington
For Thomas Millington, Simmes printed:
- Henry VI, Part 2, the second version (1600)
Play for Nicholas Ling and John Trundell
For Nicholas Ling and John Trundell, Simmes printed:
- Hamlet Q1 (1603) — this was a special early version sometimes called a "bad quarto."
Play for Matthew Law
For Matthew Law, Simmes printed:
- Henry IV, Part 1, the third version (1604)
Valentine Simmes also printed other plays connected to Shakespeare. For Nicholas Ling, he printed the third version of The Taming of a Shrew (1607). This play is a different version of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. Experts still discuss how these two versions are related.
Simmes also printed Sir John Oldcastle (1600) for Thomas Pavier. This play is part of the "Shakespeare Apocrypha," which are plays that might have been written by Shakespeare or were connected to his work. For "the Widow Newman," Simmes printed the second edition of Lawrence Twine's The Pattern of Painful Adventures in 1607. This book was one of the stories that inspired Shakespeare's play Pericles, Prince of Tyre.
Other Important Plays
Besides Shakespeare's works, Simmes printed many other important plays from the English Renaissance theatre period.
Some of these include:
- John Day's An Humorous Day's Mirth (1599)
- Thomas Dekker's The Shoemaker's Holiday (1600)
- Christopher Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (1604) for publisher Thomas Bushell
- Ben Jonson's The Coronation Triumph (1604) for Edward Blount
- The Entertainment at Althorp (1604) for Edward Blount
- John Marston's The Malcontent (1604) for William Aspley
- Ben Jonson's Hymenaei (1606) for Thomas Thorpe
- The Troublesome Reign of King John (second version, 1611) for John Helme
In Simmes's time, printers usually focused on printing, while booksellers focused on selling. However, Simmes sometimes acted as a publisher too. For example, he published the first versions of George Chapman's Humorous Day's Mirth and Thomas Dekker's Shoemaker's Holiday.
Other Works
Even though Simmes is best known for printing plays, he also worked on other types of books. He printed Salve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611) for the bookseller Richard Bonian. This book was a collection of poems by Emilia Lanier, and it was very rare to see a book by a woman published back then. For John Clapham's The History of Great Britain (1606), Simmes was both the printer and the publisher.
Simmes's Reputation
Valentine Simmes is considered one of the best printers of his time. However, even the best printers sometimes made mistakes. For example, when Simmes or his workers printed the first version of Richard II, they made 69 typing errors. When they printed the second version, they fixed 14 of those errors but accidentally added 123 new ones!
Simmes was also known for getting into trouble. He often printed books that he wasn't officially allowed to print. Because of this, in 1622, he was told he could no longer work as a head printer.
