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Start Again > Collection > Shakespeare Birthplace Trust > Books > 10 Making Shakespeare's books: Printers & Bindings
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Abraham Ortelius, Abraham Ortelius his epitome of the theatre of the worlde, 1603 - binding

A binder's ornament on a book contemporary with Shakespeare. The sturdy, leather binding on this copy of Ortelius' small atlas is the original which was probably created for the book’s first ...

Abraham Ortelius, Abraham Ortelius his epitome of the theatre of the worlde, 1603 - binding view.

Binding for everyday use in Shakespeare's time. Elizabethan books were usually sold unbound, the price being set by a Stationers' Company ordinance, or regulation, of 1586 at 1d. [one old penny] per ...

Bible. English. The Bible translated, 1576 (Geneva version) - binding view

A family Bible from Shakespeare's time, in a repaired later binding. Many of Shakespeare’s contemporaries, especially devout Protestants would have owned a so-called ‘Geneva’ edition ...

Church of England, Booke of Common Prayer, 1596 - binding view

A much-used book, possibly owned by Shakespeare. This prayer book, whose dimensions are only three by four inches [9 x 12 cm], is much battered by heavy use from previous owners. The spine leather ...

Church of England, Booke of Common Prayer, 1596 - Colophon (printer's imprint), title page of Psalms.

Shakespeare’s own prayer-book. This little prayer-book which may have belonged to William Shakespeare, as several signatures in parts of the text indicate, was printed by the Queen’s printer, ...

Gasparo Contarini, The commonwealth and government of Venice, 1599 - binding

A hard-wearing vellum binding of Shakespeare's time. This volume is in its original binding of flexible vellum, with a hand-sewn spine. Vellum (a kind of leather from very young, still-born, or foetal ...

Gasparo Contarini, The commonwealth and government of Venice, 1599 - printer's ornament, p. 98, N4v.

A woodcut as decoration. Woodcuts used to ornament Elizabethan texts were frequently ornate and often symbolic of ideas contained within the text with which they are associated. The cherubs with lute ...

Geoffrey Chaucer, Workes, 1602 - Family tree, p. A6r.

The author's family tree illustrates a Shakespeare sourcebook. In this finely printed edition the preliminary pages of Chaucer’s Works include a portrait of the author, surrounded by an elaborate ...

Georg Braun and Franz Hogenberg, Londinium, c. 1572 - detail of descriptive panel

A printer describes his map of Shakespeare's London. The French printer of this map of London used a corner to describe the city and the River Thames. Although it is in Latin this description would ...

Giambattista Geraldi Cinthio, Hecatommithi, 1580 - p.252, of vol 1: colophon

A printer's details on an Italian Shakespeare sourcebook. The 'colophon', or printer’s note was often placed on the final page of a book on its completion. This, at the end of Hecatommithi, part ...

Giambattista Geraldi Cinthio, Hecatommithi, 1580 - binding

A continental binding contemporary with Shakespeare. Vellum was occasionally used for decorative bindings, especially on the continent of Europe. This binding, probably from Venice, has neat gilded ...

Giambattista Geraldi Cinthio, Hecatommithi, 1580 - printer's device, title page volume 2, detail.

A printer's device on a Shakespeare Italian sourcebook. Many of the books to be found on the bookstalls of cosmopolitan Elizabethan London were imported from the printing houses of France, and Italy. ...

Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, 1620 - book 2 p.13v

Fine printing in Shakespeare's time. This volume was printed by Isaac Jaggard who worked alongside his father, William, and later inherited the family printing house. Isaac’s fine edition of ...

Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, 1620 - book 2, p.112r detail

Fine printing in Shakespeare's time. The engravings in Jaggard’s edition of Boccaccio do not illustrate the individual stories, but were used to decorate title page and then, possibly to save ...

Giovanni Boccaccio, The modell of wit [Decameron], Book 1, 1625 Novel 9, 3rd Day (T5 recto), detail

Ornamental illustration in a Shakespeare sourcebook. Elizabethan book illustrations are frequently simple woodcuts, although other volumes, such as Jaggard’s Boccaccio use fine engravings. This ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - Decorative printer's borders around a plot summary, Book 5, p.32 detail.

A printer's heading ornament in a Shakespeare sourcebook. The finely engraved illustrations in this edition of Ariosto contrast with the simple printer’s border with decorative ornaments above ...

Ludovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso, 1634 - binding view.

A contemporary expensive decorative binding on a Shakespeare source text The fine gold tooling, and leather spine label are original to this volume, indicating a wealthy first owner who commissioned ...

Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes, 1603 - p. A4r detail.

Dedicatory verses to a noble patron of Shakespeare's contemporary. Members of Queen Elizabeth's court, both men and women, as well as the Queen herself, enjoyed the work of poets and playwrights, offering ...