Shakspere & Typography

A Victorian printer's meticulous argument that Shakespeare worked in the printing trade before becoming the greatest playwright in English. William Blades, himself a master of the press, examines the plays and sonnets for hidden knowledge of typography, building a case that Shakespeare's frequent use of printing metaphors reveals first-hand experience with the craft. The book identifies specific phrases, technical terminology, and conceptual references that only someone who had set type or worked in a printing house would know so intimately. Blades connects this textual evidence to historical records of Elizabethan printers, most notably Thomas Vautrollier, who operated in London during Shakespeare's arrival in the city. This is literary detection meets material history: a vanished world of ink-stained hands and compositors reconstructed through word choices and the spaces between words. For anyone who has ever wondered how Shakespeare learned his trade, this obscure Victorian gem offers one of the most intriguing answers.