#catchword

This weekend we return to Nicholas Rowe’s (1674-1718) The Work of Mr. William Shakespear; in Six Volumes. Published in London in 1709 by Jacob Tonson (1655-1736), perhaps the most prolific of Shakespeare publishers, this second edition holds an important place within Shakespearean publication history. The Work of Mr. William Shakespear; in Six Volumes is recognized as the first octavo edition, the first illustrated edition, the first critically edited edition, and the first to present a biography of the poet.  

This week, we introduce you to the second which consists of all comedies, including A Midsummer-Night's Dream, Merchant of Venice, As You Like It, Taming of the Shrew, All’s Well that Ends Well, Twelfth-Night; or What You Will, and The Winter’s Tale. A full-page engraving by the French Baroque artist and book illustrator François Boitard (1670-1715) precedes each play. 

In addition to Rowe’s editorial decisions to divide the plays into scenes and include notes on the entrances and exits of the players, he also normalised the spelling of names and included a dramatis personae preceding each play. The only chronicled critique of Rowe’s momentous editorial endeavor is his choice in basing his text on the corrupt Fourth Folio. 

Perhaps of interest to some of our readers is the exceptional use of signature marks and catchwords throughout the volumes of The Work of Mr. William Shakespear; in Six Volumes. Found on the bottom of the pages, the signature marks and catchwords helped the bookbinder or printer make sure the pages were sent to the press in the right order and that subsequent leaves were bound in the correct order. Signature marks through the use of a letter and number combination marking the first page of a leaf or section, and catchwords by way of anticipating the first word of the following page.  

View more volumes of The Works of Mr. William Shakespear; in Six Volumes here.

View more Shakespeare Weekend posts.

From: The independent power of the Church not Romish, but primitive and catholick. London : Printed for Charles Rivington, at the Bible and Gown against the north-door of S. Paul's, in S. Paul's church-yard, 1716

Unbroken (dir. Angelina Jolie) 

Not all catchwords were created equal. In fact, most catchwords are not decorated at all, and just sit as simple words at the bottom of a page. Some are even trimmed off in the binding or rebinding process.

However, someone did take the time to decorate today’s catchword, which comes from Ms Codex 75. This manuscript is a handbook of canon law and pastoral theology for parish priests created in England between 1400 and 1425.

1940 yılında Stalin’in emriyle esir 22.000 Polonyalı subay ve sivil Katyn Ormanı’nda katledildi. Sovyetler Birliği gerçeği uzunca bir süre reddetmesine karşın bu utançtan kurtulamadı.