2007-03-28 08:07:18 · 5 answers · asked by toni b 1 in Arts & Humanities ➔ History
Sorry to say that this statement is not strictly correct. Around 20 of Shakespeare's plays were published as "quartos" before his death - "Hamlet" was first published in 1603, thirteen years before he died.
The truth of the matter is that plays were not considered to be "serious" literature, so no-one bothered too much about publishing them - certainly not in the expensive "folio" publications. Shakespeare "First Folio" did not appear until 1623 and would have been a mammoth and expensive task to undertake with the printing methods as they existed at the time.
So - nothing sinister - just a matter of cost.
2007-03-28 08:46:11 · answer #1 · answered by the_lipsiot 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I agree with 'the lips' and want to add, that another reason was rediscovering the different plays. This is why some of the conspiracy about Shakespeare comes from. The play houses of the day weren't always that good at getting things stored properly. Plus since it cost so much to print full scripts, they would be hand written. Complete scripts were stored poorly, torn, and otherwise abused because people would read or reread them that were in the theatre company. Some times it took a while to piece a full script back together.
2007-03-28 08:56:22 · answer #2 · answered by mimoll 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Copyright law as we understand it was non-existant; it wasn't unusual for writers to steal each others' plots (and, occasionally, entire stories) and present them as their own work.
2007-03-28 08:43:34 · answer #3 · answered by psyop6 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
brilliant question i love shakespear, i thought all the plays were published...
2007-03-28 08:11:39 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
So that other companies would not "steal" his works and produce them themselves.
2007-03-28 08:12:03 · answer #5 · answered by eagleperch 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋