Buy It Firft and Avoid Furreptitious Copies

To the great Variety of Readers.

From the moſt able, to him that can but ſpell: There you are number’d. We had rather you were weighd. Eſpecially, when the fate of all Bookes depends vpon your capacities : and not of your heads alone, but of your purſes. Well! It is now publique, & you wil ſtand for your priuiledges wee know : to read, and cenſure. Do ſo, but buy it firſt.

from the Introduction to the First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s Works, 1623.

Theatre in shakespeares time interior view
Beware the iniurious impoſtor!
Which also includes the following diatribe on pirating:

(before) you were abus’d with diuerſe ſtolne, and ſurreptitious copies, maimed, and deformed by the frauds and ſtealthes of iniurious impoſtors…

2 Replies to “Buy It Firft and Avoid Furreptitious Copies”

    1. Well, since Restoration Day is under a CC-BY-SA licence you can legally make copies, furreptitious or otherwise. As long as they’re not “maimed and deformed” – derivative works should always be labelled as such.
      I hope the cousin enjoys it!

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