Stationer's Company

A guild of printers, publishers and booksellers founded in 1403 and given a royal charter by Philip and Mary in 1557 to regulate the printing industry. The Stationer's Company had a monopoly on the production of all books in England, the exceptions being those printed by the presses of Oxford and Cambridge universities. The copyright for a text was obtained by registering it with the Company.

The Company became a major benefactor of the Bodleian Library in Oxford when it became the norm for printed matter to be presented at Stationers' Hall in London. From the mid-19th century registration there was one means of proving copyright.

Though some publishers failed to register (the pirating of books and plays was commonplace during this period), the Stationer' Register provides an valuable guide to the literature of the period. It is important, for example, in helping to date Shakespeare's works.