Edward Blount | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1562 |
| Died | 1632 (aged 69–70) |
| Occupation | Publisher |
Edward Blount (orBlunt) (1562–1632) was aLondon publisher of theElizabethan,Jacobean, andCaroline eras, noted for his publication, in conjunction withWilliam and Isaac Jaggard, of theFirst Folio ofShakespeare's plays in 1623.
He was baptised in London on 31 January 1562;[1] theStationers' Register states that he was the son of Ralph Blount or Blunt, merchant tailor of London, and apprenticed himself in 1578 for ten years to thestationerWilliam Ponsonby. Blount became a "freeman" (a full member) of theStationers' Company on 25 June 1588.[2]
Among the most important of his publications areGiovanni Florio's Italian-English dictionary and his translation ofMontaigne, plusMarlowe'sHero and Leander (1598), and theSix Court Comedies ofJohn Lyly (1632). He himself translatedArs Aulica, or the Courtier's Arte (1607) from theItalian ofLorenzo Ducci, andChristian Policie (1632) from theSpanish ofJuan de Santa María.[2]
Though best remembered for the First Folio, Blount also published works byMiguel de Cervantes,Ben Jonson,Samuel Daniel,William Camden,José de Acosta and other important authors. Blount has been described as "a genuine lover of literature, with discriminating and generous taste."[3] Beyond the Folio, Blount had other minor connections with the Shakespearean canon. In 1601 he publishedRobert Chester'sLove's Martyr, the volume that containedThe Phoenix and the Turtle; he entered bothAntony and Cleopatra andPericles, Prince of Tyre in the Stationers' Register in 1608, though he published neither. Blount was also a close friend and professional colleague ofThomas Thorpe, the publisher ofShakespeare's sonnets.
Blount published at the sign of the Black Bear inSt Paul's Churchyard, an area virtually synonymous withPaternoster Row.[4]
Blount was dead by October 1632.[1]
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Blount, Edward".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 87.| International | |
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