William Stansby facts for kids

William Stansby (born 1572, died 1638) was a very busy printer and publisher in London. He worked during the Jacobean and Caroline periods, which were times when King James I and King Charles I ruled England. Stansby started his own printing business in 1610. He is most famous for printing the very first collected book of plays by the famous writer Ben Jonson in 1616. This book was called a "folio" because of its large size.

Early Life and Training

William Stansby was born around July 1572 in Exeter, England. He was one of fourteen children. When he was about 17, in 1589, William began an apprenticeship with a London printer named John Windet. An apprenticeship is like a long training period where you learn a trade.

After about seven years, in 1597, Stansby finished his training. He became a "freeman" of the Stationers Company. This company was a special group, or guild, for printers and booksellers in London. Being a freeman meant he could now work independently.

Stansby continued to work with John Windet, first as a regular worker and then as a partner. When Windet passed away in 1610, Stansby took over his printing business. This business had three printing presses, which were important machines for making books.

What Printers Did

In Stansby's time, there were two main types of people in the book business: booksellers and printers. Booksellers usually sold the books in their shops. They would hire printers to make the books, newspapers, and other printed items. Printers mostly focused on the actual printing work.

William Stansby followed this pattern. Most of the books he printed were for booksellers to sell. But he also published some books himself, meaning he was in charge of both printing and selling them.

Stansby the Printer

As a printer, Stansby worked for many different booksellers. He printed books for people like John Smethwick. For Smethwick, he printed several editions of poems by Michael Drayton. He also printed later versions of stories by Robert Greene, such as Menaphon and Never Too Late.

Stansby also printed for Edward Blount. He printed an English translation of Latin epigrams (short, witty poems) by John Owen. He also printed Six Court Comedies in 1632, which was the first collected book of plays by John Lyly.

One of Stansby's important printing jobs for Edward Blount was the first English translation of Don Quixote. This famous Spanish novel by Miguel de Cervantes was printed in two volumes in 1612.

Stansby printed works for many other important people. He printed Sir Walter Raleigh's A History of the World in 1614. He also printed some of William Shakespeare's works. For example, he printed the fourth edition of Hamlet around 1630. He also printed the tenth edition of Shakespeare's poem Venus and Adonis in 1617.

Sometimes, a printer's name was only shown as initials on the book's title page. But experts can use other clues to figure out who the printer was. For example, "W. S." on some books is known to be William Stansby.

Stansby the Publisher

As a publisher, William Stansby's most important work was the 1616 Jonson folio. This was the first time a collection of plays by a living writer was published in such a grand way. It was a big deal for writers at the time.

He also published Coryat's Crudities in 1611, a famous travel book by Thomas Coryat. Stansby also published Thomas Lodge's translation of the works of Seneca, a Roman philosopher. In 1626, he published George Sandys's translation of Ovid's Metamorphoses, a collection of myths.

Stansby continued to publish some books that his old master, John Windet, had started. A good example is Of the Laws of Ecclesiastical Polity by Richard Hooker. Stansby published several new editions of this book between 1611 and 1632.

Like most publishers, Stansby needed to arrange for his books to be sold in shops. For example, his 1620 edition of Ben Jonson's play Epicene stated that it was sold by the bookseller John Browne.

Stansby's editions of two books by John Selden, Titles of Honour (1614, 1631) and Mare Clausum (1635), were special. They were among the first English books to print words in Arabic and Turkish. The first book used carved woodblocks for these foreign words. The second book was the first English book to use special movable type (individual letters) to print Arabic.

One of Stansby's later projects was the 1634 edition of Sir Thomas Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur. This famous book tells the stories of King Arthur. It was the last edition of the book for a long time, until people became interested in it again in the 1800s. Eventually, Stansby sold his printing business to another printer, Richard Bishop, for a good sum of money.

The Sirenaics Group

William Stansby was connected to a mysterious group called the "Sirenaics" or "Sireniacal Gentlemen." This group got its name from their meeting place, the Mermaid Tavern in Bread Street, London. They met on the first Friday of every month.

Some people in this group were known friends of Stansby, like Thomas Coryat and John Donne. The group also included important people in politics and law. Stansby had printed John Donne's first book, Pseudo-Martyr, in 1610.

Stansby's Good Reputation

Even though he had some business challenges, William Stansby was highly respected for the quality of his printed books. Both people in his time and modern experts agree that his work was excellent. He was known as a "very reputable" printer and one of the "busiest and most prestigious printers in London" during his time.

Ben Jonson chose Stansby to print his important 1616 folio because of Stansby's skill. Jonson knew Stansby would meet his high standards and demands for the book.