Booksellers' Catalogues and the Classification of Printed Drama in Seventeenth-century England

Abstract

The article discusses the conditions that encouraged the creation of booksellers' catalogs and the publication of plays in England during the 17th century. It includes a systematic examination of the catalogs of bookseller William Leake, as well as a discussion on the role played by catalogs in distinguishing plays from other literary genres and in the rise of dramatic criticism.