Question: summary of the story the merchant of venice

title: The Merchant of Venice
text: The play was entered in the Register of the Stationers Company , the method at that time of obtaining copyright for a new play , by James Roberts on 22 July 1598 under the title The Merchant of Venice , otherwise called The Jew of Venice . On 28 October 1600 Roberts transferred his right to the play to the stationer Thomas Heyes ; Heyes published the first quarto before the end of the year . It was printed again in 1619 , as part of William Jaggard 's so - called False Folio . ( Afterward , Thomas Heyes ' son and heir Laurence Heyes asked for and was granted a confirmation of his right to the play , on 8 July 1619 . ) The 1600 edition is generally regarded as being accurate and reliable . It is the basis of the text published in the 1623 First Folio , which adds a number of stage directions , mainly musical cues .