What is plagiarism? How was it understood and judged in early modern England? This interdisciplinary study sets out at once to theorize and historicize plagiarism. The first part launches a vigorous debate about the ethical, philosophical, artistic and legal implications of plagiarism. Individual essays in part two provide historical case studies. Variously centred on translations of the Bible, historiography, drama, poetry, dance treatises, sermons and colonial grammars, the essays show how a nexus of concepts developed between the Renaissance and the early 19th century - plagiarism, imitation, forgery, copyright and intellectual property - and how they have been defined and contested.