Ben Higgins read English at the University of Exeter before going to the University of Oxford for postgraduate work. He has held lectureships at Wadham College, Lincoln College, and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He is currently Career Development Fellow in English Literature at Lady Margaret Hall.

• List of Figures List of Tables List of Abbreviations Note on Transcription and Citation Conventions Introduction Part 1: 'Printed by Isaac Jaggard, and Ed. Blount. 1623.' 1: 'Master William Shakesperes workes': Edward Blount at the Black Bear 2: 'Prudentia': The Jaggard Publishing House Part 2: 'J. Smithweeke, and W. Aspley, 1623.' 3: A Minor Shakespearean: William Aspley at the Parrot 4: 'Under the Diall': John Smethwick at St Dunstan's Churchyard Epilogue Appendix 1: The letters of Edward Blount Appendix 2: The publications of William and Isaac Jaggard Appendix 3: The wholesale locations of Shakespeare's books, 1593-1640 Bibliography Index

Ben Higgins's Shakespeare's Syndicate is a hugely impressive study of the bookish world around the First Folio. Conceived as an extensive close reading of the book's title page, it takes the reader on a thrilling tour of the book trade that published, printed, marketed, and sold this most influential of volumes. Devoting a chapter each to Edward Blount, John Smethwick, William Aspley, and William and Isaac Jaggard, Higgins makes the case for these figures as 'merchants of belief', vital to the formation of the book's value, and the 'creation of [its] literariness'.