The First Folio of Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare
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Four hundred years after its publication, Shakespeare's First Folio has found a brand-new crop of enthusiasts. This gorgeous collection comprises all the plays in the original volume -- fourteen comedies, ten histories, and twelve tragedies -- each edited so it can be performed by eight to twelve children age seven and up in under twenty minutes.Tags
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Member Reviews
An absolutely gorgeous fascimile, driven by that luminary of Folio studies, Charlton Hinman. (Unless you're a collector, the Second Edition is a better investment than the first, since the updated introduction acknowledges some of the lapses in Hinman's intro from the 1960s due to knowledge gained since then.)
A thing of beauty.
A thing of beauty.
I've read all of Shakespeare's plays before, but reading the first folio is very rewarding. If you are into Shakespeare, it's the only way to go!
I should explain here my * star rating for the First Folio of Shakespeare that I use from time to time as a reference: parts of some plates of the Norton facsimile are not legible enough. Besides, the 17c. idiosyncrasies and the original spelling are too difficult for me. I need an hour to decipher a page. Too long to savour. This is my fault, not Shakespeare's...
Finely done, slightly reduced size facsimile of the Henry Huth copy of the First Folio at Yale University. Very useful for the general reader.
The second edtion of the Norton Facsimile of the great 1623 First Folio of Shakespeare--certainly one of the most important books ever published, along with the King James Bible, published only a few years before this (1611).
Not a facsimile of a single copy, like the smaller-sized Yale facsimile. This one is made-up from multiple copies--"best pages" as it were. It has the advantage, however, of being full-sized.
This was chosen by Emma Smith, Professor of Shakespeare Studies at Hertford College, Oxford and author of Portable Magic: A History of Books and their Readers (Allen Lane, 2023), as one of History Today’s Books of the Year 2023.
Find out why at HistoryToday.com.
Find out why at HistoryToday.com.
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SHAKESPEARE'S FIRST FOLIO in Book talk (February 2024)
First Folio of Shakespeare : Norton Facsimile 1996 in Folio Society Devotees (October 2023)
OT The Shakespeare First Folio - Times article of 18 Feb 2023 in Folio Society Devotees (October 2023)
First Folio of Shakespeare : Norton Facsimile 1996 in Fine Press Forum (August 2023)
OT: Shakespeare First Folio for sale in Folio Society Devotees (October 2022)
Author Information
6,000+ Works 440,235 Members
William Shakespeare, 1564 - 1616 Although there are many myths and mysteries surrounding William Shakespeare, a great deal is actually known about his life. He was born in Stratford-Upon-Avon, son of John Shakespeare, a prosperous merchant and local politician and Mary Arden, who had the wealth to send their oldest son to Stratford Grammar School. show more At 18, Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway, the 27-year-old daughter of a local farmer, and they had their first daughter six months later. He probably developed an interest in theatre by watching plays performed by traveling players in Stratford while still in his youth. Some time before 1592, he left his family to take up residence in London, where he began acting and writing plays and poetry. By 1594 Shakespeare had become a member and part owner of an acting company called The Lord Chamberlain's Men, where he soon became the company's principal playwright. His plays enjoyed great popularity and high critical acclaim in the newly built Globe Theatre. It was through his popularity that the troupe gained the attention of the new king, James I, who appointed them the King's Players in 1603. Before retiring to Stratford in 1613, after the Globe burned down, he wrote more than three dozen plays (that we are sure of) and more than 150 sonnets. He was celebrated by Ben Jonson, one of the leading playwrights of the day, as a writer who would be "not for an age, but for all time," a prediction that has proved to be true. Today, Shakespeare towers over all other English writers and has few rivals in any language. His genius and creativity continue to astound scholars, and his plays continue to delight audiences. Many have served as the basis for operas, ballets, musical compositions, and films. While Jonson and other writers labored over their plays, Shakespeare seems to have had the ability to turn out work of exceptionally high caliber at an amazing speed. At the height of his career, he wrote an average of two plays a year as well as dozens of poems, songs, and possibly even verses for tombstones and heraldic shields, all while he continued to act in the plays performed by the Lord Chamberlain's Men. This staggering output is even more impressive when one considers its variety. Except for the English history plays, he never wrote the same kind of play twice. He seems to have had a good deal of fun in trying his hand at every kind of play. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets, all published on 1609, most of which were dedicated to his patron Henry Wriothsley, The Earl of Southhampton. He also wrote 13 comedies, 13 histories, 6 tragedies, and 4 tragecomedies. He died at Stratford-upon-Avon April 23, 1616, and was buried two days later on the grounds of Holy Trinity Church in Stratford. His cause of death was unknown, but it is surmised that he knew he was dying. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- The First Folio of Shakespeare
- Original title
- Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies
- Alternate titles
- Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies
- Original publication date
- 1623
- Disambiguation notice
- This work contains various editions of the text and the content of First Folio, that is, the 36 plays which were first collected in 1623 under the title "Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories and Tragedies". It does no... (show all)t include Pericles or the Sonnets or either of the narrative poems.
Do NOT combine with with the complete plays (which invariably include Pericles) or the complete works.
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- Members
- 516
- Popularity
- 57,676
- Reviews
- 11
- Rating
- (4.70)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 16
- UPCs
- 2
- ASINs
- 17
