16 2 Inti oducing Shakespeare

paid to vamp up a pirated copy. The pirated texts of
Henry F, Hamlet and The Merry Wives of Windsor were pro-
duced in this way. Sometimes when the players were hard
up they sold their play-books. After the dislocation caused
by the plague of 15-92-4, twenty-two plays were published
in one year. When a play had ceased to be profitable, it
was sometimes sold; and there were occasions when for
some particular reason it was desirable to allow printed
copies to be circulated. Thus the Lord Chamberlain's
Men allowed the first part of Henry IV to be published,
probably to demonstrate to the world that Oldcastle'sli
name had been changed to Falstaff.*

Although the players had no dramatic copyright in their
plays, they were not without some protection. There was
a printer's copyright; a printer, by the rules of the
Stationers* Company, was obliged to enter the titles of
books which he printed in the Stationers' Register. This
gave him sole right to print. In practice, however, printers
were very casual in observing the regulations, and only
about two-thirds of the books printed were actually en-
tered. Books were not allowed to be entered unless the
authority of the wardens of the Stationers' Company, or
of the Archbishop of Canterbury or the Bishop of London
or the Privy Council, had first been secured. Players were
sometimes able to prevent the unwarranted printing of
their plays by appealing to their patrons. Sometimes they
arranged with a printer to enter the play in the Stationers'
Register and so secure copyright, but with no intention of
printing it.

Elizabethan play-texts were often carelessly printed.

. 76.