First Folio

The First Folio, officially called Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies, is a very important book of plays written by William Shakespeare. It was printed in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare passed away. This book holds 36 of Shakespeare's plays and was put together by his friends John Heminges and Henry Condell. They dedicated it to two important brothers, William Herbert, 3rd Earl of Pembroke and Philip Herbert.

Before the First Folio, only 19 of Shakespeare's plays had been printed separately. But the First Folio gave us reliable versions of around 20 plays, and for 18 of them, it was the very first time they were ever printed. Some famous plays like The Tempest, Twelfth Night, and Macbeth first appeared in this book.

Only about 750 copies of the First Folio were made, and today we know of 235 that still exist. Many of these precious copies are kept safe in places like the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which holds 82 of them. The First Folio is studied by scholars and loved by readers all around the world because it helps us enjoy Shakespeare's wonderful stories today.

Background

Further information: List of Shakespeare plays in quarto

William Shakespeare spent many years as an actor, writer, and partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men) before he passed away on April 23, 1616, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Before the First Folio, Shakespeare's works were already available in printed form. There were 78 printed editions of his works, with 23 being poetry and 55 being plays. The most popular were Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, and Henry IV, Part 1. These plays were often printed in a smaller book format called quarto, which was affordable and easy to carry. Another format, octavo, was even smaller and cheaper, often used for his poems to make them look more like famous Greek classics.

Printing

The First Folio was put together by John Heminges and Henry Condell. The book was published by booksellers Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard. Heminges and Condell said the Folio would fix mistakes from earlier, less accurate versions of Shakespeare's plays.

The paper for the book came from France, and the printing was a big job. William Jaggard was too old and blind by 1623, so his son Isaac did most of the work. The book was finished and entered into official records on November 8, 1623. The first known purchase was made on December 5, 1623.

Contents

The First Folio is a collection of 36 plays by William Shakespeare. It was published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare passed away, and is one of the most important books ever printed. Many of these plays had never been published before this book.

The plays are grouped into three sections: comedies, histories, and tragedies. Each play was created from different sources, such as early printed versions or handwritten copies. Some plays were written directly from Shakespeare’s own drafts, while others were based on versions used during actual performances.

Comedies

• 1 The Tempest *
• 2 The Two Gentlemen of Verona *
• 3 The Merry Wives of Windsor
• 4 Measure for Measure *
• 5 The Comedy of Errors *
• 6 Much Ado About Nothing
• 7 Love's Labour's Lost
• 8 A Midsummer Night's Dream
• 9 The Merchant of Venice
• 10 As You Like It *
• 11 The Taming of the Shrew *
• 12 All's Well That Ends Well *
• 13 Twelfth Night *
• 14 The Winter's Tale *

Histories

• 15 King John *
• 16 Richard II
• 17 Henry IV, Part 1
• 18 Henry IV, Part 2
• 19 Henry V
• 20 Henry VI, Part 1 *
• 21 Henry VI, Part 2
• 22 Henry VI, Part 3
• 23 Richard III
• 24 Henry VIII *

Tragedies

• 25 Troilus and Cressida
• 26 Coriolanus *
• 27 Titus Andronicus
• 28 Romeo and Juliet
• 29 Timon of Athens *
• 30 Julius Caesar *
• 31 Macbeth *
• 32 Hamlet
• 33 King Lear
• 34 Othello
• 35 Antony and Cleopatra *
• 36 Cymbeline *

Introductory poem

Ben Jonson wrote a special poem to introduce the First Folio. The poem is called "To the Reader" and is placed next to an engraving called the Droeshout portrait. In the poem, Jonson talks about how the artist tried very hard to capture Shakespeare’s face perfectly in the picture, but he suggests that readers should focus more on Shakespeare’s wonderful books instead of just the portrait.

Compositors

Scholars believe that five people helped put the words of the First Folio into print. They are called A through E. Researcher A was the best at spelling and made the fewest mistakes. Researcher E was still learning and often had trouble with the old handwriting of the play scripts.

One of these helpers might have been a young man named John Leason, who started learning his printing skills in November 1622. Another could have been a man named John Shakespeare from Warwickshire, who learned printing between 1610 and 1617. There were many Shakespeares in that area at the time, but this John was not related to the famous playwright.

The First Folio and variants

The First Folio is a special book that collects many of William Shakespeare's plays. It was made about seven years after Shakespeare passed away. Some pages were checked and fixed while the book was being printed, which means copies of the First Folio can look a little different from each other.

The book was made by printing sheets of paper that were folded and put together in a special way. This process made it tricky to fit all the words perfectly on each page. Sometimes, lines had to be changed to fit, or even left out, which can be upsetting for people who love Shakespeare's work. The First Folio was printed again three more times in the 1600s, known as the Second, Third, and Fourth Folios.

Holdings, sales and valuations

The First Folio, a collection of William Shakespeare's plays, was sold for about 15 shillings originally. Today, this would be worth around £159 for an unbound copy and up to £212 for one bound in calfskin.

Around 750 copies of the First Folio were printed, and about 235 are known to still exist today. The largest collection is at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which has 82 copies. Other places with copies include Meisei University in Tokyo, the New York Public Library in New York City, and the British Library in London.

The First Folio is very valuable. In 2001, one copy sold for $6.16 million, and in 2020, another sold for $10 million, making it the most expensive work of literature ever sold at auction.