Valentine Simmes (fl. 1585 – 1622) was an English printer of theElizabethan andJacobean eras. He did business inLondon, "on Adling Hill nearBainard's Castle at the sign of the White Swan." Simmes has a reputation as one of the better printers of his generation, and was responsible for severalquartos ofShakespeare's plays. [See:Early texts of Shakespeare's works.]
Nothing is known of Simmes's early life or personal history. He was active as a printer starting in 1585.
In an eight-year period from1597 through1604, Simmes printed nine Shakespearean quartos for various Londonstationers or booksellers.
For the booksellerAndrew Wise, Simmes printed:
For Wise andWilliam Aspley, Simmes printed:
ForThomas Millington, Simmes printed:
ForNicholas Ling andJohn Trundell, Simmes printed:
For Matthew Law, Simmes printed:
Also forNicholas Ling, Simmes printed Q3 ofThe Taming of a Shrew (1607), the alternative version of Shakespeare'sThe Taming of the Shrew. (Scholars dispute the exact nature of the relationship between the two versions.)[2] And forThomas Pavier, Simmes printed Q1 ofSir John Oldcastle (1600), a play of theShakespeare Apocrypha.[3] For "the Widow Newman," Simmes printed the second, 1607 edition of Lawrence Twine'sThe Pattern of Painful Adventures, one of the sources for Shakespeare'sPericles, Prince of Tyre.
Simmes also printed a range of other significant texts inEnglish Renaissance theatre, including:[4]
— among other works. In Simmes's era, the specialties of printer and bookseller/publisher were usually practised separately, though some individuals, likeWilliam Jaggard, functioned in both. Simmes normally kept to the printshop side of the business, though he did occasionally publish too, as with the first quartos ofGeorge Chapman'sHumorous Day's Mirth andThomas Dekker'sShoemaker's Holiday.
Best known for his printing of plays, Simmes worked on non-dramatic projects as well; he printedSalve Deus Rex Judaeorum (1611) for the bookseller Richard Bonian – a volume of poems byEmilia Lanier, it was one of the very rare books by a woman published in that era.[5] For John Clapham'sThe History of Great Britain (1606), he was both printer and publisher.
While Simmes is recognized as among the best printers of his generation, a cynic might complain that this is not saying much — that it merely identifies Simmes as the best of a bad lot. Simmes, or his compositors, allowed 69 typographical errors inRichard II, Q1; when they printed Q2 they corrected 14 of these typos, but added 123 new ones.[6]
Apart from his reputation for quality, Simmes "was constantly in trouble for printing unauthorized works, and in 1622 was forbidden to work as a master printer."[7]
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