William Leake
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Bookselling and publishing |
| Founded | c. 1586 |
| Founder | William Leake I |
| Fate | Business continued by John Leake (son of William Leake II) |
| Headquarters | London , England |
| Products | Books, including English Renaissance drama and poetry |
William Leake, both father (deceased 1633) and son (deceased 1681), were prominent London booksellers and publishers during the late 1500s and throughout the 1600s. Their publishing repertoire included significant works of English Renaissance drama and poetry, featuring authors such as Shakespeare and Beaumont and Fletcher.
Senior
William Leake I, also known as William Leake the elder, commenced his career as a bookseller around 1586, maintaining storefronts at the Greyhound in Paternoster Row and the Holy Ghost in St. Paul's Churchyard. In 1596, he secured the publishing rights to Shakespeare’s Venus and Adonis from John Harrison the elder, overseeing six editions from 1599 through 1602 in literature (covering the fifth to tenth editions).
He was responsible for issuing the initial quartos of Anthony Munday’s Robin Hood dramas, The Downfall and The Death of Robert Earl of Huntington (both released in 1601), along with several editions of John Lyly’s Euphues between 1605 and 1613. Other distinguished publications included Robert Southwell’s Saint Peter's Complaint and Other Poems (1595) and Thomas Greene’s A Poet's Vision, and a Prince's Glory (1603).
Leake also produced widely circulated religious works typical of the era, such as Henry Smith’s The Sinner's Confession (1594) and William Fulke’s A Most Pleasant Prospect into the Garden of Natural Contemplation (1602). Furthermore, he published popular chivalric romances like The Knight of the Sea (1600) and The Third and Last Part of Palmerin of England (1602).
In 1618, he held the position of Master within the Stationers Company prior to his retirement.
Junior
William Leake II, or William Leake the younger, was admitted as a full member ("freedman") of the Stationers Company on 22 June 1623. Unlike his father, he did not inherit an ongoing enterprise but was bequeathed £600 along with family silverware as stipulated in his father’s will. By 1635, he was independently operating a shop at the Crown in Fleet Street, later relocating to Chancery Lane. On 1 June 1635, copyrights were transferred to him by Widow Leake; subsequently in 1638, he acquired further rights from Richard Hawkins—both transactions included dramatic texts—signifying a high point in the Leakes’ publishing activity.
Although associated with substantial folio collections such as Shakespeare’s First Folio (1623) and Beaumont and Fletcher’s folio edition (1647), William Leake II also issued numerous subsequent editions of individual plays:
- A King and No King: editions four through seven (1639–1676)
- Philaster: editions five through seven (1639–circa 1663)
- The Maid's Tragedy: fifth and sixth editions (1641, 1650)
- The Merchant of Venice: fourth quarto edition (1652)
- Othello: third quarto edition (1655)
He reprinted James Shirley’s plays including The Grateful Servant (1637) and The Wedding (1660), alongside multiple editions of Hero and Leander, which combined Marlowe’s original poem with Chapman’s continuation.
Leake II was also responsible for first printings such as John Gough’s tragicomedy The Strange Discovery (1640) and George Sandys’s rendition of Hugo Grotius’s tragedy titled Christ's Passion.
Mirroring his father’s approach, he diversified into popular literature—publishing sixth and later editions of The Pleasant History of Lazarillo de Tormes beginning in 1639, as well as Le Prince D'Amour in 1660—and serious literary works including Sir Thomas Urchard’s Epigrams Divine and Moral (1646) and John Wilson’s translation of Erasmus’ The Praise of Folly (1668). He maintained connections with the Cotton Library under Sir Thomas Cotton, releasing constitutional texts such as William Prynne’s An Exact Abridgement of the Records in the Tower of London (1657).
Following William Leake II’s tenure, his son John Leake took over the business.
See also
- Walter Burre
- Francis Constable
- Crooke and Cooke
- John and Richard Marriot
- John Martyn
- Humphrey Moseley
- William Ponsonby
- Humphrey Robinson