Mr. VVilliam Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies : published according to the true originall copies
1623
Mr. VVilliam Shakespeares comedies, histories, & tragedies : published according to the true originall copies
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
1623
This, the first edition of the collected plays of William Shakespeare, is commonly known as the First Folio. Printed in London and issued in 1623 by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, the First Folio contains 36 plays, 18 of which had never before appeared in print, including Macbeth, The Tempest, and Julius Caesar. Before the First Folio, a number of Shakespeare's plays had been published in various smaller formats that frequently contained significant textual divergences between editions. The front matter contains commendatory verses and epistles dedicatory from contemporaries and admirers of Shakespeare, including Ben Jonson, James Mabbe, and Leonard Digges. Signatures: [superscript pi]A⁶([superscript pi]A1+1,[superscript pi]A5+1.2) A-2B⁶ 2C²; a-g⁶ [superscript chi]2g⁸ h-v⁶ x⁴; '2g3.4'(±'2g3') ¶-2¶⁶ 3¶1 2a-2f⁶ 2g² 2G⁶ 2h⁶ 2k-3b⁶. Errors in pagination: (comedies) 50 labeled as 58, 59 labeled as 51, 86 as 88, 153 as 151, 161 as 163, 164 as 162, 165 as 163, 189 as 187, 204 as 194, 249 as 251, 250 as 252, and 265 as 273; (histories) 89 labeled as 91, 90 as 92, 165 as 167, 166 as 168, and 216 as 218; (tragedies) 77-80 labeled as 79-82, 279 as 259, 308 as 38, 379 as 389, and 399 as 993 Numerous leaves missigned, all corresponding to those described by Hinman in The Printing and Proofreading of the First Folio of Shakespeare (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963), pp. 32-33 Colophon: Printed at the charges of W. Jaggard, Ed. Blount, I. Smitheweeke, and W. Aspley, 1623 Title page vignette (Droeshout portrait); head-and tailpieces; initials Boston Public Library. Barton collection catalogue, Shakespeare, page 1 English short title catalogue, entry S111228 Greg, W.W. Bibliography of the English printed drama to the Restoration, vol. III, page 1109 Carl H. Pforzheimer Library, entry 905 Pollard, A.W. Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland & Ireland and of English books printed abroad, 1475-1640 (2nd ed.) entry 22273 Shakespeare first folios: a descri
