The First Greek Tragedy Printed in England

Some Textual and Typographical Notes

Abstract

This article focuses on the first Greek edition of a work of classical antiquity printed in England, namely Euripides’ Troades, published by John Day in 1575. This is not a new edition of Euripides’ text, but it reproduces the text established in the editions derived from the Aldine one, without any of Willem Canter’s 1571 changes. Basing their discussion on a textual and contextual analysis, these notes focus on the book’s typographical peculiarities, suggesting that Day’s Greek types may have been used later by Dawson. The article also attempts to identify Day’s printing purposes and the possible readership of this entirely unusual printing venture.

Keywords: Greek theatrical literature; reception of Greek literature; early modern English culture; reception of Euripides