21 Facts About William Stansby

William Stansby was a London printer and publisher of the Jacobean and Caroline eras, working under his own name from 1610.

One of the most prolific printers of his time, Stansby is best remembered for publishing the landmark first folio collection of the works of Ben Jonson in 1616.

William Stansby was one of fourteen children of Richard Stansby, a cutler from Exeter.

William Stansby remained with Windet, first as a journeyman and then in 1609 as partner in his house at the sign of the Cross Keys, until Windet's death in 1610.

William Stansby followed the general pattern: the majority of his books were printed for booksellers to sell in their shops, while the remainder were works that William Stansby published independently.

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For John Smethwick, William Stansby printed several editions of the collected Poems of Michael Drayton, plus several of the later editions of prose works by Robert Greene, like Menaphon and Never Too Late.

William Stansby printed collections of the sermons of Barten Holyday for Nathaniel Butter.

Edward Blount, William Stansby printed an English translation of John Owen's Latin epigrams, and Six Court Comedies, the first collected edition of the plays of John Lyly.

William Stansby printed works by Samuel Purchas for Henry Featherstone, and works by Joseph Hall for Featherstone and for Butter.

William Stansby printed Sir Walter Raleigh's A History of the World for Walter Burre.

Also for Meighen, William Stansby printed the first edition of John Clavell's A Recantation of an Ill Led Life.

William Stansby published Thomas Coryat's famous travelogue Coryat's Crudities, and Thomas Lodge's translation of the works of Seneca.

William Stansby continued to publish some works and authors originally issued by his master Windet.

William Stansby eventually sold his business to stationer Richard Bishop for £700.

William Stansby has been associated with the "Sirenaics" or "Sirenaical Gentlemen, " a mysterious group that drew their name from their meeting place the Mermaid Tavern in Bread Street the first Friday of every month.

The group included figures with whom William Stansby had known links, like Thomas Coryat, Samuel Purchas, and John Donne, as well as a range of influential figures in politics and law.

Records of the Stationers Company show that William Stansby was repeatedly fined, throughout his career, for small infractions of the guild's rules – for printing copy to which he did not own the rights; for violating rules governing apprentices; even for speaking harsh words to colleagues.

Probably in 1620, William Stansby printed a topical pamphlet for Nathaniel Butter: titled A Plain Demonstration of the Unlawful Succession of Ferdinand II, Because of the Incestuous Marriage of His Parents, the work criticized the 1619 accession of the new Holy Roman Emperor.

The title page of the pamphlet on Ferdinand II bore the false claim that it was printed "at the Hague" – but the Stuart authorities were not fooled; first Butter, and then William Stansby, were arrested for violating the regime's strict censorship policy, and William Stansby's presses were damaged.

Petitions for mercy from both Butter and William Stansby survive in the extant records; in his, William Stansby places all the blame for the affair on Butter.

William Stansby has been characterized as "very reputable, " and one of the "busiest and most prestigious printers in London" in his generation.