The title page of the First Folio with the famous engraved portrait of Shakespeare by Martin Droeshout

The First Folio is the name given by modern scholars to the first published collection of William Shakespeare's plays; its actual title is Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. Printed in folio format and containing 36 plays (see list of Shakespeare's plays), it was prepared by Shakespeare's colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. Although eighteen of Shakespeare's plays had been published in quarto prior to 1623, the First Folio is the only reliable text for about twenty of the plays, and a valuable source text even for many of those previously published. The Folio includes all of the plays generally accepted to be Shakespeare's, with the exception of Pericles, Prince of Tyre and The Two Noble Kinsmen. It does not include any of his poems. Image File history File links First_Folio. ... Image File history File links First_Folio. ... Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, flat surface, by cutting grooves into it. ... The famous Droeshout portrait of William Shakespeare Martin Droeshout [] (* ca. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Folio: In bookbinding, a sheet of paper, parchment, or other material folded in half to make two leaves in a codex. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... John Heminges was an actor in the Kings Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. ... Henry Condell was an actor in the Kings Men, the playing company for which William Shakespeare wrote. ... Events August 6 - Pope Urban VIII is elected to the Papacy. ... Quarto has several meanings: In bookbinding and publishing, quarto indicates the book size which results when four leaves of the book are created from a standard size sheet of paper. ... Pericles, Prince of Tyre is a play written partly by William Shakespeare and included in modern editions of his collected plays. ... The Two Noble Kinsmen is a play written in 1613 by John Fletcher and William Shakespeare in collaboration. ...

Printing the Book

Though the contents of the First Folio were compiled by Heminges and Condell, the members of the Stationers Company who published the book were the booksellers Edward Blount and the father/son team of William and Isaac Jaggard. The Jaggards were printers as well as booksellers, an unusual but not unprecedented combination. William Jaggard has seemed an odd choice by the King's Men, since he had published the questionable collection The Passionate Pilgrim as Shakespeare's, and in 1619 had printed new editions of ten Shakespearean quartos to which he did not have clear rights, some with false dates and title pages. It is thought that the typesetting and printing of the First Folio was such a large job that the King's Men simply needed the capacities of the Jaggards' shop. (At any rate, William Jaggard was old, infirm, and blind by 1623, and died a month before the book went on sale; most of the work in the project must have been done by his son Isaac.) The Worshipful Company of Stationers and Newspaper Makers is one of the Livery Companies of the City of London. ... The Passionate Pilgrim is a collection of poems, first published in 1599, attributed on the title-page to William Shakespeare. ...

The First Folio's publishing syndicate also included two stationers who owned the rights to some of the individual plays that had been previously printed: William Aspley (Much Ado About Nothing and Henry IV, part 1, and John Smethwick (Love's Labor's Lost, Romeo and Juliet, and Hamlet). Smethwick had been a business partner of another Jaggard, William's brother John. Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, widely considered the greatest of the histories. ... Loves Labours Lost is one of William Shakespeares early comedies; it is believed to have been written around 1595-1596 and is probably contemporaneous with Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Nights Dream. ... The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, commonly referred to as Romeo and Juliet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare concerning the fate of two young star-crossd (ill-fated) lovers. ... The third quarto of Hamlet (1605); a straight reprint of the 2nd quarto (1604) The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is one of his best-known and most-quoted plays. ...

The actual printing of the Folio was likely done between April and October 1621, and then, after a break for other work, from the autumn of 1622 to autumn in the following year. The job was done and the book on sale by the end of 1623.

The Contents

The thirty-six plays of the First Folio occur in the order given below; plays that had never been published before 1623 are marked with a ✓. Each play is followed by the type of source used, as determined by bibliographical research.^[1]

[Some definitions are needed. The term "foul papers" refers to Shakespeare's working drafts of a play; when completed, a transcript or "fair copy" of the foul papers would be prepared, by the author or by a scribe. Such a manuscript would have to be heavily annotated with accurate and detailed stage directions and all the other data needed for performance, and then could serve as a "prompt-book," to be used by the prompter to guide a performance of the play. Any of these manuscripts, in any combination, could be used as a source for a printed text. On rare occasions a printed text might be annotated for use as a prompt-book, as may have been true in the case of A Midsummer Night's Dream.]

Comedies

• 1 The Tempest ✓ — the play was set into type from a manuscript prepared by Ralph Crane, a professional scrivener employed by the King's Men. Crane produced a high-quality result, with formal Act/scene divisions, frequent use of parentheses and hyphenated forms, and other identifiable features.
• 2 The Two Gentlemen of Verona ✓ — another transcript by Ralph Crane.
• 3 The Merry Wives of Windsor — another transcript by Ralph Crane.
• 4 Measure for Measure ✓ — probably another Ralph Crane transcript.
• 5 The Comedy of Errors ✓ — probably typeset from Shakespeare's "foul papers," lightly annotated.
• 6 Much Ado About Nothing — typeset from a copy of the quarto, lightly annotated.
• 7 Love's Labor's Lost — typeset from a corrected copy of Q1.
• 8 A Midsummer Night's Dream — typeset from a copy of Q2, well-annotated, possibly used as a prompt-book.
• 9 The Merchant of Venice — typeset from a lightly edited and corrected copy of Q1.
• 10 As You Like It ✓ — from a quality manuscript, lightly annotated by a prompter.
• 11 The Taming of the Shrew ✓ — typeset from Shakespeare's "foul papers," somewhat annotated, perhaps as preparation for use as a prompt-book.
• 12 All's Well That Ends Well ✓ — probably from Shakespeare's "foul papers" or a manuscript of them.
• 13 Twelfth Night ✓ — typeset either from a prompt-book or a transcript of one.
• 14 The Winter's Tale ✓ — another transcript by Ralph Crane.

Histories To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... The Two Gentlemen of Verona is a comedy by William Shakespeare from early in his career. ... The Merry Wives of Windsor is a comedy by William Shakespeare featuring the fat knight Falstaff. ... Measure for Measure is a play written by William Shakespeare in 1603. ... The Comedy of Errors is an early play by William Shakespeare. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... Loves Labours Lost is one of William Shakespeares early comedies; it is believed to have been written around 1595-1596 and is probably contemporaneous with Romeo and Juliet and A Midsummer Nights Dream. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) A Midsummer Nights Dream is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare written sometime in the mid-1590s. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) The Merchant of Venice is one of William Shakespeares best-known plays, written sometime between 1594 and 1597. ... Scene from As you like it, Francis Hayman, c. ... Taming of the Shrew by Augustus Egg The Taming of the Shrew is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ... Alls Well That Ends Well is a comedy by William Shakespeare, and is often considered one of his problem plays, so-called because they cannot be easily classified as tragedy or comedy. ... Twelfth Night has at least three meanings: Twelfth Night (holiday), celebrated by some Christians Twelfth Night, or What You Will, a comedic play by William Shakespeare Twelfth Night (band), a progressive rock band This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share... The Winters Tale is a comedy by William Shakespeare. ...

• 15 King John ✓ — uncertain: a prompt-book, or "foul papers."
• 16 Richard II — typeset from Q3 and Q5, corrected against a prompt-book.
• 17 Henry IV, Part 1 — typeset from an edited copy of Q5.
• 18 Henry IV, Part 2 — uncertain: some combination of manuscript and quarto text.
• 19 Henry V — typeset from Shakespeare's "foul papers."
• 20 Henry VI, Part 1 ✓ — likely from an annotated transcript of the author's manuscript.
• 21 Henry VI, Part 2 — probably a Shakespearean manuscript used as a prompt-book.
• 22 Henry VI, Part 3 — like 2H6, probably a Shakespearean prompt-book.
• 23 Richard III — a difficult case: probably typeset partially from Q3, and partially from Q6 corrected against a manuscript (maybe "foul papers").
• 24 Henry VIII ✓ — typeset from a fair copy of the authors' manuscript.

Tragedies King John is one of the so-called Shakespearean histories, plays written by William Shakespeare and based on the history of England. ... Title page of Richard II, from the fifth quarto, published in 1615. ... Henry IV, Part 1 is a history play by William Shakespeare, widely considered the greatest of the histories. ... Henry IV part 2 is a history play by William Shakespeare, first published as part of Shakespeares First Folio. ... Title page of the first quarto (1600) Henry V is a play by William Shakespeare based on the life of King Henry V of England. ... King Henry VI Part 1 is one of the history plays of William Shakespeare. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Henry VI Part III is the third of William Shakespeares plays set during the lifetime of King Henry VI of England, and prepares the ground for one of his best-known and most controversial plays: the tragedy of King Richard III (Richard III of England). ... Frontispage of the First Quarto Richard The Third. ... Henry VIII (28 June 1491 – 28 January 1547) was King of England and Lord of Ireland (later King of Ireland) from 22 April 1509 until his death. ...

• 25 Troilus and Cressida — probably typeset from the quarto, corrected with Shakespeare's "foul papers."
• 26 Coriolanus ✓ — set from a high-quality authorial transcript.
• 27 Titus Andronicus — typeset from a copy of Q3 that might have served as a prompt-book.
• 28 Romeo and Juliet — in essence a reprint of Q3.
• 29 Timon of Athens ✓— set from Shakespeare's foul papers of a transcript of them.
• 30 Julius Caesar ✓ — set from a prompt-book, or a transcript of a prompt-book.
• 31 MacBeth ✓ — probably set from a prompt-book.
• 32 Hamlet — one of the most difficult problems in the First Folio: probably typeset from some combination of Q2 and manuscript sources.
• 33 King Lear — a difficult problem: probably set mainly from Q1 but with reference to Q2, and corrected against a prompt-book.
• 34 Othello — another difficult problem: probably typeset from Q1, corrected with a quality manuscript.
• 35 Anthony and Cleopatra ✓ — possibly "foul papers" or a transcript of them.
• 36 Cymbeline ✓ — possibly another Ralph Crane transcript, or else the official prompt-book.

Troilus and Cressida was originally intended to follow Romeo and Juliet, but the typesettting was stopped, probably due to a conflict over the rights to the play; it was later inserted as the first of the Tragedies, when the rights question was resolved. The History of Troilus and Cressida is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1602, shortly after the completion of Hamlet. ... Coriolanus is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, based on the life of the legendary Roman leader. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The Most Excellent and Lamentable Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet, commonly referred to as Romeo and Juliet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare concerning the fate of two young star-crossd (ill-fated) lovers. ... Timon of Athens is a play by William Shakespeare written around 1607. ... Gāius Jūlius Caesar (IPA: ;[1]), July 12 or July 13, 100 BC – March 15, 44 BC) was a Roman military and political leader and one of the most influential men in world history. ... Scene from Macbeth, depicting the witches conjuring of an apparition in Act IV, Scene I. Painting by William Rimmer This article is on Shakespeares play, for other meanings see Macbeth (disambiguation). ... The third quarto of Hamlet (1605); a straight reprint of the 2nd quarto (1604) The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark is a tragedy by William Shakespeare and is one of his best-known and most-quoted plays. ... Title page of the first quarto edition, published in 1608 King Lear is generally regarded as one of William Shakespeares greatest tragedies. ... Othello and Desdemona in Venice by Théodore Chassériau (1819–1856) Othello: The Moor of Venice is a tragedy by Shakespeare written around 1603. ... Antony and Cleopatra is an historical tragedy by William Shakespeare, first performed in 1607 or 1608 and printed in the First Folio, 1623. ... Cymbeline is a play by William Shakespeare. ...

First Folio Technique

Some Shakespeare directors believe that modern editions of Shakespeare's plays, which are heavily edited and changed to be more readable, remove possible actor cues in the Folio, such as capitalization, different punctuation and even the changing or removal of whole words.

The First Folio has received extensive and highly detailed attention from bibliographers and other specialists, and a large body of specific information has been attained about its composition, proofreading, and related matters. (See references below.) The actual printing of the text was most likely accomplished, with interruptions, between April 1621 and late 1623; the book was on sale before the end of that year. William and Isaac Jaggard, father and son, were the printers, and together with Edward Blount, the publishers as well.

W. W. Greg has argued that Edward Knight, the "book-keeper" (prompter) of the King's Men, did the actual proofreading of the texts in the First Folio. Knight is known to have been responsible for maintaining and annotating the company's scripts, and making sure that the cuts and changes ordered by the Master of the Revels were complied with. Sir Walter Wilson Greg (9 July 1875-4 March 1959) was a bibliographer and literary scholar. ... It has been suggested that Lord Chamberlains Men be merged into this article or section. ... Master of the Revels was an office within the British royal household that originally had minor responsibilities for overseeing royal festivities. ...

Modern sales

The First Folio's original price was 1 pound (the equivalent of about £95-£110 or US$170 to $190 today). ^{[citation needed]} ISO 4217 Code GBP User(s) United Kingdom Inflation 2. ... The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States. ...

It is believed that around 1,000 copies of the First Folio were printed. The most recent census (1995-2000) records 228 still in existence, including five copies held by the British Library. British Library Ossulston St entrance, with distinctive red logo. ...

It is one of the most valuable printed books: a copy sold at Christie's in New York in October 2001 made $5.6m hammer price (then £3.73m). Oriel College, Oxford raised a conjectured £3.5 million from the sale of its First Folio to Sir Paul Getty in 2003. Christies Auction Room in London circa 1808. ... College name Oriel College Named after Blessed Virgin Mary Established 1324 Sister College Clare College, Cambridge Trinity College, Dublin Provost Sir Derek Morris JCR President Frank Hardee Undergraduates 304 Graduates 158 Homepage Boatclub Oriel College (in full: The House of Blessed Mary the Virgin in Oxford commonly called Oriel College... Sir John Paul Getty KBE (September 7, 1932 – April 17, 2003) was a wealthy American-born British philanthropist and book-collector. ...

On 13 July 2006, a complete copy of the First Folio owned by Dr Williams's Library was auctioned at Sotheby's auction house. The book, which was in its original 17th century binding, sold for £2.5 million hammer price, less than Sotheby's top estimate of £3.5 million.^[2] This copy is one of only about 40 remaining complete copies (most of the existing copies are incomplete); only one other copy of the book remains in private ownership. July 13 is the 194th day (195th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 171 days remaining. ... 2006 (MMVI) is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Dr Williamss Library is a small research library located in Gordon Square in Bloomsbury, London. ... An auctioneer and her assistants scan the crowd for bidders An auction is the process of buying and selling things by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder. ... PR shot of Sothebys New York, from auditions for The Apprentice 2 Sothebys is an auction house. ...

See also

• Folios and Quartos (Shakespeare)

William Shakespeares earliest published plays are referred to as folios or quartos according to the size of the book, folios being large, tall volumes and the quartos smaller and squarer. ...

Note

1. ^ G. Blakemore Evans, textual editor, The Riverside Shakespeare, Boston, Houghton Mifflin, 1974.
2. ^ Antiques Trade Gazette, 22 July 2006.

References

• Alfred W. Pollard, The Foundations of Shakespeare's Text, London, Oxford University Press, 1923.
• Edwin Eliott Willoughby, The Printing of the First Folio of Shakespeare, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 1932.
• Alice Walker, Textual Problems of the First Folio, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 1953.
• W. W. Greg, The Shakespeare First Folio: Its Bibliographical and Textual History, London, Oxford University Press, 1955.
• Charlton K. Hinman, The Printing and Proof-Reading of the First Folio, Oxford, the Clarendon Press, 1963.

Alfred William Pollard (1859 – March 8, 1944) was an English bibliographer, widely credited for bringing a higher level of scholarly rigor to the study of Shakeaperean texts. ... Sir Walter Wilson Greg (9 July 1875-4 March 1959) was a bibliographer and literary scholar. ...

External links

• First Folio - plain vanilla text from Project Gutenberg
• Of Folios and Facsimiles - A discussion of available facsimiles of the First Folio.
• Landmarks in Printing: Shakespeare's First Folio - British Library
• The Internet Shakespeare Editions maintains a collection of full colour facsimilies of the folios and quartos. Full text transcriptions are also available.