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English

Cupids Cabinet Unlock't (1662), ostensibly "By W. Shakespeare", in fact partly by John Milton

Published inDepledge, E. & Kirwan, P. (Ed.), Canonizing Shakespeare : stationers and the book trade, 1640-1740, p. 89-106
PublisherCambridge : Cambridge University Press
Publication date2017
Abstract

This chapter explores a mid-seventeenth-century printed poetic miscellany about which little has been written so far despite the fact that it has two claims to fame: it is attributed to William Shakespeare on the title page, and its contents are partly by John Milton. The chapter argues that the decision to attribute the miscellany, entitled Cupids Cabinet Unlock't, to Shakespeare may have had more to do with one stationer's political allegiance than it did with how Shakespeare's marketability was perceived at the time. The first part of the essay uses the material with which one copy of Cupids Cabinet Unlock't was originally bound in order to identify its date of publication and its publisher, before discussing the only extant complete copy of the book in which the miscellany appeared. The second part of the essay explores the attribution to Shakespeare by considering Cupids Cabinet Unlock't in the context of his place in the book trade in the mid to late seventeenth century. The third part turns to the contents of the miscellany, especially the material by Milton.

Keywords
  • Cupids Cabinet Unlock't
  • William Shakespeare
  • John Milton
  • Miscellany
  • Book trade
Citation (ISO format)
ERNE, Lukas Christian. Cupids Cabinet Unlock’t (1662), ostensibly ‘By W. Shakespeare’, in fact partly by John Milton. In: Canonizing Shakespeare : stationers and the book trade, 1640-1740. Depledge, E. & Kirwan, P. (Ed.). Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2017. p. 89–106. doi: 10.1017/9781316650752
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ISBN978-1-316-65075-2
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