During the lifetime of Shakespeare, there were published of his no less than seventy-two separate original works, plays and poems, the first in date being _Venus and Adonis_, in 1593, and the last, _The Rape of Lucrece_, in 1616. A number of these volumes reached a third or fourth edition, and, notwithstanding the lack of adequate book-selling machinery, the sales of many of them appear to have been considerable. The authorities on the life of Shakespeare are, however, I believe, in substantial accord in the conclusion that the author secured from these sales no direct benefit, and that the independent fortune accumulated by him was derived from his pay as an actor, from the interest later possessed by him in the business of the theatre, and probably, also, from some recognition on the part of the performing companies of the author’s right to a share of the profits earned by his plays. Shakespeare apparently benefited by stage-right if not by copyright. The seventy-two publications above referred to include only those which, having been duly entered for copyright, may be described as “authorised.” There are various references to unauthorised editions, but no record of any one of these having been suppressed. The first issue of _Venus and Adonis_, printed by Richard Field, was certainly authorised, as it contained a dedication by the author. The copyright was registered in the name of Field, while the book was published by John Harrison. A diary of the time speaks of the selling price as being twelve pence.[71] _Lucrece_, published in its first edition in the year following, was, like the earlier book, dedicated by the author to the Earl of Southampton, and was likewise printed by Field for Harrison. We find from this time an increasing tendency to separate the business of printing from that of publishing, while the copyright entry is nearly always made in the name of the printer. _The Comedy of Errors_, printed in 1594, was entered as belonging to the Lord Chamberlain’s company, that to which Shakespeare was at the time attached. It was the case with other, though not with all, of the plays, that the copyright was vested in the company for which they had been written. The first publisher who secured copyright in a play of Shakespeare’s was Andrew White, who, in 1597, made entry of _Richard the Second_. Neither in this case nor in that of the long list of other printers and publishers who, during the lifetime of the author, “claimed copie” in Shakespeare’s writings, does it appear by what authority they undertook to control such “copie.” While there may possibly in the case of the plays have been assignments or authorisations on the part of the theatre company, there is, I understand, no record of, or specific reference to, any such assignments. The first collection of Shakespeare’s plays for which any measure of completeness was claimed, was presented in the well-known folio of 1623, the publication of which