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Chapter 3 - United Histories

Nathaniel Butter and his Newsworthy Playbooks

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 March 2022

Amy Lidster
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Summary

Chapter 3 concentrates on plays published by Nathaniel Butter during the early Jacobean period, and the conceptual overlap between ‘news’ and ‘history’ that was crucial for Butter and other early modern readers. Because Butter was so invested in ideas of ‘history’, it is possible to use his output to develop a clear profile of an early reader – one whose selection of texts with Protestant and union interests offers a distinctive perspective on history plays and introduces a slight tension with James I’s own political and religious policies. Alongside Butter’s non-dramatic output, this chapter focuses on Rowley’s When You See Me You Know Me, Heywood’s 1 and 2 If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody, Dekker’s The Whore of Babylon, and Shakespeare’s King Lear to offer a fresh perspective on early Jacobean historical drama. It reveals that the genre did not decline at this time; and it considers the important but neglected parallels between plays that dramatize recent history and the legendary British past. Finally, the chapter argues that Butter’s investments were shaped by the geography of the book trade and his location, next to Matthew Law’s, at St Austin’s Gate in Paul’s Churchyard.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publishing the History Play in the Time of Shakespeare
Stationers Shaping a Genre
, pp. 132 - 179
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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  • United Histories
  • Amy Lidster, University of Oxford
  • Book: Publishing the History Play in the Time of Shakespeare
  • Online publication: 10 March 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009043656.004
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  • United Histories
  • Amy Lidster, University of Oxford
  • Book: Publishing the History Play in the Time of Shakespeare
  • Online publication: 10 March 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009043656.004
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • United Histories
  • Amy Lidster, University of Oxford
  • Book: Publishing the History Play in the Time of Shakespeare
  • Online publication: 10 March 2022
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009043656.004
Available formats
×