Andrew Wise
Andrew Wise (fl. 1589 – 1603), or Wyse or Wythes, was a London publisher of the Elizabethan era who issued first editions of five Shakespearean plays. "No other London stationer invested in Shakespeare as assiduously as Wise did, at least while Shakespeare was still alive." Andrew Wise was the son of a Yorkshire yeoman; as "Wythes," he served an eight-year apprenticeship under Henry Smith and Thomas Bradshaw starting in 1581, and became a "freeman" (a full member) of the Stationers Company on 26 May 1589. He ran his own business in London from about 1593 to 1603; his  shop was at the sign of the Angel in St. Paul's Churchyard. Wise published editions of the following five Shakespearean plays: In one view, "Andrew Wise...struck gold three times in a row in 1597–8 by picking what would become the three best-selling Shakespearean quartos as the first three plays of his brief career." In addition to Shakespeare's plays, Wise published a range of other contemporary works, including Thomas Nashe's "Christ's Tears Over Jerusalem" (1593), and Thomas Campion's "Observations in the Art of English Poesy" (1602). As was typical of publishers of his era , he published religious and homiletic works, like "The Pathway to Perfection" and "The Mean of Mourning" (both 1596) by Thomas Playfair – though he appears to have operated a rather small-scale business, in comparison with other stationers of his generation. On 25 June 1603, Andrew Wise transferred his copyrights to "R2, R3," and "1H4" to fellow stationer Matthew Law, who issued subsequent quartos of all three plays. Thereafter Wise "is not heard of again."