Andrew Wise

Who is Andrew Wise?

Andrew Wise, or Wyse or Wythes, was a London publisher of the Elizabethan era who issued first editions of five Shakespearean plays. "No other London stationer invested in Shakespeare as assiduously as Wise did, at least while Shakespeare was still alive."

Andrew Wise was the son of a Yorkshire yeoman; as "Wythes," he served an eight-year apprenticeship under Henry Smith and Thomas Bradshaw starting in 1581, and became a "freeman" of the Stationers Company on 26 May 1589. He ran his own business in London from about 1593 to 1603; his shop was at the sign of the Angel in St. Paul's Churchyard.

Wise published editions of the following five Shakespearean plays:

⁕He entered Richard II into the Stationers' Register on 20 August 1597, and published the first quarto of the play before the end of the year. The second and third quartos both followed in 1598. All three volumes were printed by Valentine Simmes.

⁕Richard III was entered into the Stationers' Register on 20 October 1597; the first quarto appeared later that year. Wise published the second quarto of R3 in 1598, and the third in 1602. Valentine Simmes printed signatures A-G of the first quarto, with H-M coming from Peter Short's print shop. The other two books were printed by Thomas Creede.