his _Malcontent_:

I would fain leave the paper; only one thing afflicts me, to think
that scenes, invented merely to be spoken, should be enforcively
published to be read, and that the least hurt I can receive is to do
myself the wrong. But since others otherwise would do me more, the
least inconvenience is to be accepted. I have myself, therefore, set
forth this comedy; but so, that my enforced absence must much rely
upon the printer's discretion: but I shall entreat slight errors in
orthography may be as slightly overpassed, and that the unhandsome
shape which this trifle in reading presents, may be pardoned for
the pleasure it once afforded you when it was presented with the
soul of lively action.

[Page Heading: Pirated Editions]

The only form in which any of Shakespeare's plays found their way into
print during his lifetime was that of small pamphlets, called Quartos,
which were sold at sixpence each.[7] In the case of five of these there
is general agreement that they came to the press by the surreptitious
method of reporting described by Heywood: the first Quarto versions of
_Romeo and Juliet_, _Henry V_, _The Merry Wives_, _Hamlet_, and
_Pericles_. All of these bear clear traces of the effects of such
mutilation as would naturally result from the attempt to write down the
dialogue during the performance, and patch up the gaps later. The first
Quartos of _Richard III_ and _King Lear_, though much superior to the
five mentioned, yet contain so many variants from the text of the Folio
which seem to be due to mistakes of the ear and to slips of memory on
the part of the actors, that probably they should also be included in
the list of those surreptitiously obtained.

[7] For facsimile reproductions see Bibliography, Appendix D.

Redress for such pirating as is implied in these publications was
difficult on account of the absence of a law of copyright. The chief
pieces of legislation affecting the book trade were the law of licensing
and the charter of the Stationers' Company. According to the first, all
books, with a few exceptions, such as academic publications, had to be
licensed before publication by the Bishop of London or the Archbishop
of Canterbury. This was an unworkable provision, and in fact the
responsibility for all books not likely to raise political or
theological controversy was left to the Stationers' Company. This close
corporation of printers and p