William Aspley

William Aspley (died 1640) was a London publisher of the Elizabethan, Jacobean, and Caroline eras. He was a member of the publishing syndicates that issued the First Folio and Second Folio collections of Shakespeare's plays, in 1623 and 1632.

The publisher was the son of a William Aspley of Royston, Cambridgeshire; he served a nine-year apprenticeship under George Bishop that started at Christmas 1587. Aspley's professional career was notable for its longevity: he became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers Company on 4 April 1597, and remained active for the next four decades. He served in the office of Master of the Company in 1640, the year he died. His shops were located 1) at the sign of the Tiger's Head, and 2) at the sign of the Parrot, both in St. Paul's Churchyard. (The Parrot was on the same block as the shop of First Folio colleague Edward Blount, at the sign of the Black Bear.)

Aspley's connection with the Shakespeare canon began in 1600: on 23 August that year, he and fellow stationer Andrew Wise entered into the Stationers' Register the plays Henry IV, Part 2 and Much Ado About Nothing, so establishing their right to publish the works. Both plays were issued in individual quartos before the end of 1600, editions printed for Wise and Aspley by Valentine Simmes. Neither play appears to have been a major success in printed form, since neither was reprinted prior to its inclusion in the First Folio in 1623.

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