Shakespeare and Precious Stones / Treating of the Known References of Precious Stones in Shakespeare's Works, with Comments as to the Origin of His Material, the Knowledge of the Poet Concerning Precious Stones, and References as to Where the Precious Stones of His Time Came from

by George Frederick Kunz

It was probably more than a coincidence that Shakespeare's first printed book, "Venus and Adonis", was published, in 1593, by a fellow-townsman, Richard Field, who had come up to London from Stratford when a mere boy. Undoubtedly, when Shakespeare met him in the bustle of city life, the common memories of their quieter native town served at once as an introduction and as a link between them. Field also published Shakespeare's "Lucrece" in the year 1594. He had been a freeman of the Stationers' Company from February 6, 1587, and died either in the year the First Folio was issued, or in the succeeding year, 1624.

Printer's mark of Richard Field, as shown on the title-page of the first edition of Shakespeare's "Venus and Adonis", 1593, the unique copy of which is in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. A hand emerging from a cloud upholds the "Anchor of Hope", about which are twined two laurel branches.

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