Poetry, Publishers, and Print

This chapter focuses on the three most prominent publishers in seventeenth-century London—Humphrey Moseley, Henry Herringman, and Jacob Tonson—to demonstrate how stationers helped to craft the canon of English poetry through what they published, the material forms in which it circulated, and also through what they chose not to publish. As illustrated through analysis of print editions of John Milton, John Dryden, and Katherine Philips, a book’s format, mis-en-page, typeface, paratexts, price, contents, paper, and the arrangement of poetic texts within it all shape meaning, access, and collection habits in important ways. Further, the chapter argues that texts and authors were not simply selected for publication on the basis of perceived commercial demand but also to correspond to the professional strategies and ambitions of individual publishers. Thus, in helping to canonise specific authors and poems, publishers often sought not simply to make money but also to shape their own reputation and legacy.