Nicholas Ling ( fl.1570–1607) was a London publisher, bookseller, and editor who published several important Elizabethan works, including the first and second quartos of

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's ''

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

''. Ling was the son of John Lynge, a parchment maker from Norwich. He was apprenticed to Henry Bitteman in 1570 and was admitted to the

Stationers' Company The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers (until 1937 the Worshipful Company of Stationers), usually known as the Stationers' Company, is one of the livery companies of the City of London. The Stationers' Company was formed in ...

as a "freeman" (full member) in 1578. He generally partnered with other publishers. In 1597 he edited ''Politeuphuia, or Wits Commonwealth'', a collection of prose quotations. He has also been credited by some critics with editing ''

England's Helicon ''Englands Helicon'' is an anthology of Elizabethan pastoral poems compiled by John Flasket, and first published in 1600. There was an enlarged edition in 1614. The word Helicon refers to the Greek mountain on which, in Greek mythology, two s ...

'' (1600), a collection of Elizabethan lyric poems. In 1603 he collaborated with another bookseller, John Trundell, to publish the first quarto of ''Hamlet''. This edition, printed by

Valentine Simmes Valentine Simmes (fl. 1585 – 1622) was an Elizabethan era and Jacobean era printer; he did business in London, "on Adling Hill near Bainard's Castle at the sign of the White Swan." Simmes has a reputation as one of the better printers of his gene ...

, has been widely condemned as a wildly inaccurate and badly printed travesty of the play. A few months later James Roberts printed the much more substantial and accurate second quarto according to the "true and perfect copy" of Shakespeare's manuscript.MacCary, W. Thomas, ''Hamlet: A Guide to the Play'', Greenwood Press, 1998, p.12. Gerald D. Johnson suggests that Trundell had acquired a garbled version of the text, which was quickly published in association with Ling to meet demand. Roberts had been given official access to Shakespeare's manuscript by the company, as he had entered it as a forthcoming publication in the

Stationers' Register The Stationers' Register was a record book maintained by the Stationers' Company of London. The company is a trade guild given a royal charter in 1557 to regulate the various professions associated with the publishing industry, including print ...

in 1602. He made a deal with Ling that Roberts would print the much more substantial "good" version a little while later, giving Ling exclusive sales rights, cutting out Trundell. Both would profit, with Ling getting to sell the same play twice.Johnson, Gerald D., 'Nicholas Ling, Publisher 1580-1607'", Studies in Bibliography, 38, 1985, pp.203-14. In 1607 he transferred 16 copyrights to

John Smethwick John Smethwick (died 1641) was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras. Along with colleague William Aspley, Smethwick was one of the "junior partners" in the publishing syndicate that issued the First Folio collection ...

, among them three Shakespeare plays (''Hamlet'', ''

Romeo and Juliet ''Romeo and Juliet'' is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare early in his career about the romance between two Italian youths from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular plays during his lifetim ...

'', and ''

Love's Labour's Lost ''Love's Labour's Lost'' is one of William Shakespeare's early comedies, believed to have been written in the mid-1590s for a performance at the Inns of Court before Elizabeth I of England, Queen Elizabeth I. It follows the King of Navarre and ...

'') as well as ''

The Taming of a Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunken ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ling, Nicholas Publishers (people) from London