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1605
This is the fourth edition of Richard III, printed in 1605. On June 25, 1603, Andrew Wise, who published the first three editions, transferred the rights to Matthew Law.
July 24, 1605
In the summer of 1605, by means of the deed shown here, Shakespeare was able to raise the very considerable sum of £440 to purchase from Ralph Hubaud a half-share in a lease of a portion of the Stratford tithes.
ca. 1606
In several scenes, the Cambridge University play Progress to Parnassus mocks the literary tastes and talents of the London commercial stage, depicting Shakespeare as a popular but unsophisticated playwright and poet.
ca. August 1, 1606
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Printed as 1602, possibly 1607
The title page of the eighth edition of Venus and Adonis claims that it was printed in 1602 by William Leake, who had acquired the rights to Venus and Adonis in 1596. However, it was printed illegally in 1607 by Robert Raworth.
1607
The fifth edition of Lucrece was printed in 1607 by Nicholas Okes for John Harrison III, who had also published the fourth edition.
1608
This is the first edition of King Lear. It was printed in 1608 by Nicholas Okes, most likely within a year of when Nathaniel Butter and John Busby registered the play with the Stationers’ Company on November 26, 1607.
Imprinted as 1602, i.e. 1608
The ninth edition of Venus and Adonis was printed for William Leake and was dated 1602 on the title page, just like the eighth edition. However, Harry Farr argued in 1923 that it was actually printed in 1608, and identifies the printer as Humphrey Lownes.
1608
The fourth edition of Henry IV Part 1 features the same information on its title page as the previous two editions printed in 1599 and 1604, including the claim that it was “Newly corrected by W.
1608
Arthur Johnson published The Merry Devil of Edmonton in 1608, declaring the play to “hath beene sundry times Acted, / by his Maiesties Seruants, at the / Globe, on the banke-side.” In the 1630s, the play was bound in a volume of eight quartos in the library of King Charles I
