John Trundle Court: Where Hamlet Was First Published

John Trundle Court on London's Barbican Estate marks the historic site where printer John Trundle published the first, unauthorized edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet in 1603. Operating from his Barbican shop named The Sign of Nobody, Trundle and Nicholas Ling produced a pirated Bad Quarto reconstructed from an actor's memory. This version contained only half the play and famous line alterations. Only two copies survive worldwide.

London Β· from the walk β€œSecrets and Surprises of Barbican” Β· audio ~4 min Β· Generated

John Trundle Court, Barbican Estate, London EC2Y 8DF

Where in London was the first pirated edition of Shakespeare's Hamlet published by John Trundle?

You're standing in John Trun-dle Court... a quiet, concrete courtyard on the Barbican Estate. Look around. Modern brutalist architecture, clean lines, a few potted plants. Nothing here screams literary intrigue. And yet... this very patch of London ground is where one of the greatest acts of literary piracy in English history took place.......... John Trun-dle was a bookseller and printer, born the son of John and Joan Trun-dle in Chipping Barnet, Hertfordshire. His father died when he was just two years old. At fourteen, the boy left home and moved to London, apprenticing himself to Ralph Hancock, a stationer. After eight years of learning the trade, he became a qualified printer in fifteen ninety-seven.......... And here's where it gets wonderful. That same year, Trun-dle set up his own printing business right here in the Barbican. His shop had the most delightful name... it was called "The Sign of Nobody." And it seems he ran it as a tavern as well! The sign itself depicted a man in breeches pulled up to his neck, his arms poking out of the pockets, and a cap completely covering his face. A man who was... nobody.......... Now... here's the secret. After Hamlet was first performed at the Globe Theatre around sixteen oh two, Trun-dle and fellow bookseller Nicholas Ling published a pirate copy of the play in sixteen oh three. This was what scholars call a "Bad Quarto" β€” not because the printing was poor, but because the text was reconstructed from Memory by one of the actors. It contained only about Half the play, with scenes in the wrong order!......... And get this β€” the most famous line in all of English literature, "To be, or not to be, that is the question," appeared in Trun-dle's version as "To be, or not to be, I, there's the point." Not quite the same ring to it, is it?......... Characters had different names too β€” Polonius was called "Corambis," and Reynaldo became "Montano." This pirate edition was so thoroughly lost to history that it wasn't rediscovered until eighteen twenty-three, when Sir Henry Bunbury stumbled upon a copy. Only Two copies are known to exist in the entire world.......... But Trun-dle was no mere thief. He dealt in ballads, news, books, plays, and what they called ephemeral literature β€” the tabloid press of his day. He was even a friend of Ben Jonson, and published at least one of his plays. In fact, Jonson name-dropped Trun-dle in his comedy Every Man in His Humour, joking about someone who might end up trolling ballads for "Mister John Trun-dle."

...... Even Shakespeare himself may have winked at Trun-dle. In The Tempest, the character Trinculo refers to music "played by the picture of Nobody" β€” which scholars believe is a direct reference to Trun-dle's shop sign.......... So next time someone tells you the Barbican is all concrete and no culture... remind them that the world's most celebrated play was first put into print right beneath your feet. By a man called Nobody.

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