John Danter: More than just a ‘notorious book pirate’
Doctoral Candidate: Michelle Michel
Supervisors: Professor Tiffany Stern and Dr Simon Smith
John Danter (fl. 1591-9) was an Early Modern printer-publisher of dubious reputation most famously associated with the first quarto of William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet which he printed in 1597. The many textual oddities and resultant questions brought about by this text caused twentieth-century scholars to villainize its printer. To add to their narrative, Danter had been embroiled in a number of mishaps with the Stationers’ Company causing them to confiscate and destroy his equipment, not once but twice. This project seeks to contextualise these events and therefore deepen the story behind the literary creations printed by Danter, including work written by Sir Philip Sidney, Shakespeare, Thomas Nashe, Robert Greene and Henry Chettle, as no work of literature is printed in a void.
This project started with a close analysis of the damaged type used by Danter throughout his career from which instances of shared printing have, and continue to be, identified. In addition to this, measuring the gradual deterioration and wear and tear on the type, alongside textual and archival material, allows for a more accurate chronological timeline of printing for these titles. This in turn enables a clearer picture of Danter’s working networks with other printers, publishers, booksellers and authors to be painted as we can see precisely when he is working with whom.
The project therefore aims not only to create a clearer context for the study of these literary items, but also a more accurate portrayal of the infamous book pirate, if indeed he qualifies for that title.
