The First Folio

The Plays of William Shakespeare - The First Folio

The First Folio

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 'FIRST FOLIO'

The "First Folio" is of major importance to William Shakespeare as it is the first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays without which there would be no William Shakespeare!
Publishers used the ' First Folio ' to print copies of the plays and other Folios were printed in 1632, 1663, 1664 and 1685

Picture of the cover on the ' First Folio '
which contained Shakespeare's Plays

WHAT IS A FOLIO?

A folio is a Manuscript
A Folio is made up of ' quires ' consisting of 6 leafs of paper folded in half with text on both sides giving twelve pages of text
The pages are sewn together

WHAT DID THE 'FIRST FOLIO' CONTAIN'?

The first Folio contained 36 of William Shakespeare's plays
The First Folio consisted of 900 pages
It was entitled "Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories & Tragedies". A picture of the cover is shown at the top of the page

WHO COMPILED THE CONTENT FOR THE 'FIRST FOLIO'?

Two of William Shakespeare's friends and fellow actors, John Hemminge and Henry Condell, were the editors of the collection
William Shakespeare mentioned both actors in his will "my fellows John Hemynges Richard Burbage & Henry Cundell," leaving them 26s..8d to "buy them Ringes."
They, no doubt, had copies of the plays in Quarto text in the format of Fair or Foul copies
It was from these copies that the content of the First Folio originated
The First Folio was dedicated to two brothers, William and Philip, the sons of the Earl of Pembroke and Mary Sidney Herbert, Countess of Pembroke

WHO PUBLISHED THE 'FIRST FOLIO'?

The Printer and Publisher of the 'First Folio' were William Jaggard and his son Isaac with Ed. Blount
The 'First Folio' was registered on 8th November 1623.
500 copies of the ' First Folio ' were printed at the price of £1 for each copy - approximately 238 known copies have survived
Publishers used the ' First Folio ' to print copies of the plays and other Folios were printed in 1632, 1663, 1664 and 1685

THE PICTURE OF WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE ON THE 'FIRST FOLIO'

The picture which appears on the First Folio is produced from a copper engraving of a likeness of Shakespeare
It must be remembered that during William Shakespeare's era that only engravings were used to illustrate such documents, it was not possible to reproduce paintings of portraits
The engraver of this famous image of Shakespeare was called Martin Droeshout (1601 - 1651)
It is a very odd image! For those who like a mystery and more information about the engraver click the following link Droeshout Engraving