Sign In

Philip Chetwinde was a bookseller and publisher in seventeenth-century London, active from 1653 to 1674. Chetwinde is best known for publishing the Third Folio of Shakespeare's plays.

Chetwinde started as a clothworker before entering the publishing industry through his 1637 marriage to Mary Allot, widow of Robert Allot, a publisher of the Second Folio of Shakespeare. This marriage gave Chetwinde rights to publish works by Shakespeare and Ben Jonson.

Despite early challenges due to his lack of formal apprenticeship with the Stationers Company, Chetwinde successfully moved into publishing. He used his rights to Jonson's works to contribute to the publication of the Second Jonson folio in 1640–1641, officially published by Richard Meighen.

By 1653, Chetwinde began operating fully as a stationer. In 1663, he published the Third Folio of Shakespeare, a corrected reprint of the Second Folio, printed by Alice Warren, Roger Daniel, and either Thomas Ratcliffe or John Hayes.

In 1664, he released a second impression of the Third Folio, adding seven plays, including Pericles, Prince of Tyre, the only one among them now considered partly authentic to Shakespeare.

In addition to his work with Shakespeare, Chetwinde published a variety of religious works and was notable for publishing books in the Welsh language. He also frequently collaborated with female printers, such as Alice Warren, Ellen Cotes, and Sarah Griffin.