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. 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.. 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 was an actor, writer, and partner in the Lord Chamberlain's Men (later the King's Men). He died on April 23, 1616, in Stratford-upon-Avon.

Before the First Folio, Shakespeare's works were printed in book form. There were 78 printed editions of his works. The plays were often printed in a smaller book format called quarto. This format was affordable and easy to carry. Another format, octavo, was even smaller and cheaper. It was often used for his poems.

Printing

The First Folio was made by John Heminges and Henry Condell. The book was published by booksellers Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard. Heminges and Condell wanted the Folio to fix mistakes in earlier versions of Shakespeare's plays.

The paper for the book came from France, and printing it 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 book with 36 plays by William Shakespeare. It was printed in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare died. It is very important because many of these plays were not printed before this book.

The plays are in three groups: comedies, histories, and tragedies. Each play came from different places, like printed copies or handwritten notes. Some plays were from Shakespeare’s own drafts, and some were from versions used when the plays were performed.

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 for the First Folio. It is called "To the Reader" and is next to an engraving called the Droeshout portrait. In the poem, Jonson says the artist worked hard to make Shakespeare's face look right, but he tells readers to think more about Shakespeare's great books than just the picture.

Compositors

Scholars think 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 died. Some pages were checked and fixed while the book was being printed, so 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 made it hard to fit all the words perfectly on each page. Sometimes, lines had to be changed to fit, or even left out. 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 is a book of William Shakespeare's plays. It was sold for about 15 shillings long ago. Today, this would be worth around £159 for a copy without a cover and up to £212 for one with a calfskin cover.

About 750 copies of the First Folio were printed, and around 235 still exist today. The most copies are 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 book ever sold at an auction.