Mr William Shakespear's comedies, histories, and tragedies : published according to the true original copies : unto which is added, seven plays never before printed in folio ..
1685
Mr William Shakespear's comedies, histories, and tragedies : published according to the true original copies : unto which is added, seven plays never before printed in folio ..
Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616
1685
This, the fourth edition of the collected plays of William Shakespeare, is commonly known as the Fourth Folio. The so-called First Folio was printed in London and issued in 1623 by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount. It contained 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.. Of the seven extra plays included in this folio, only one (Pericles) is still considered to have been authored by Shakespeare. The front matter contains commendatory verses and epistles dedicatory from contemporaries and admirers of Shakespeare, including Ben Jonson, James Mabbe, Leonard Digges, Hugh Holland, and John Milton There is one other title page setting associated with this edition. It bears the following imprint: H. Herringman, E. Brewster, and R. Bentley, at the Anchor in the New Exchange, the Crane in St. Pauls Church-Yard, and in Russel-Street Covent-Garden, 1685 Greg identified Robert Roberts as the printer of the first section and conjectured that the edition itself was the work of three separate printers, the final two of whom remained unidentified Signatures: pi² [superscript pi]A⁴ A-Y⁶ Z⁴ ²B-²C⁶ 2D-2Z⁶ *3A-*3D⁶ *3E⁸ 3A-4B⁶ 4C². Numerous errors in pagination are present. For a detailed description, see Greg U3 signed U2 Bartlett, H.C. Shakespeare early editions, 123 Boston Public Library. Barton collection catalogue, p. 2 ESTC R24524 Greg, III, p. 1121 Pforzheimer 911 Wing (2nd ed.) 2917 Boston Public Library (Rare Books Department) copy G.176.4 FOLIO bound in early calfskin triple-paneled in blind. Gilt, armorial super-ex-libris of Isaac L. Goldsmid (lion rampant at a gun over the initials I.L.G.) at center of both covers. Corners repaired in modern calf. Spine rebacked in brown goatskin. Original compartments, with portion of det
