William Shakespeare Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: London, 1623

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William Shakespeare
Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies
f ol ger sh a k e spe a r e l ibr a ry
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The First Folio: Text as Icon
➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
Arthur Freeman
➤ The First Folio
A discussion of the First Folio’s role in the establishment of Shake-
speare’s reputation, and its history as a bibliophilic and cultural icon. ➤ Print About this book…
➤ Read “The First Folio: Text as Icon” now… ➤ bibliographical items
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Shakespeare, the Stage, and the Book ➤ advanced features
Stephen Orgel and A.R. Braunmuller
Essays on the Elizabethan theatrical world, Shakespeare’s life, the
authorship debate, and textual issues. ➤ help & tips
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The First Folio of Shakespeare

Peter W.M. Blayney
A digital facsimile of a booklet originally published by the Folger
Shakespeare Library. Covers the printing and publishing of the First
Folio, differences in surviving copies, and the historic Folger collection.
➤ View more information about reading this booklet…
William Shakespeare
page 1 of 35 ➤ f ol ger sh a k e spe a r e l ibr a ry
The First Folio: Text as Icon O
A rt h ur Fr eema n ➤ about this book
The First Folio Edition of Shakespeare’s Plays … forms the ➤ Text as Icon
greatest contribution made in a single volume to the secular ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
literature of any age or country. By the English-speaking
➤ The First Folio
peoples it must always be regarded as the proudest moment of
their literary history. (Sidney Lee, 1902) ➤ Print About this book…
the first collec ted edition of Shakespeare’s plays, published in ➤ bibliographical items
1623, seven years after his death, is probably the most famous “literary” ➤ book contents
printed book in the world. Not undeservedly: the massive single-volume, ➤ advanced features
double-column edition of thirty-six “Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies”
prints eighteen plays for the first time, and provides superior texts of four of ➤ about this edition
the others, which had earlier appeared in separate smaller-format versions. ➤ help & tips
Had the 1623 collection never been issued, we would now possess no
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trace of The Tempest, Macbeth, As You Like It, Twelfth Night, Julius Caesar,
Antony and Cleopatra, Measure for Measure, or The Winter’s Tale, nor a
complete Richard III, nor anything but a mangled version of Henry V and
a clumsy approximation of The Taming of the Shrew. The collection omits,
incidentally, one late title (Pericles) and one then-unpublished collaboration
(The Two Noble Kinsmen), as well as Shakespeare’s sonnets and longer
poems, for which the copyright was still jealously guarded.
The volume itself (about 13¹⁄₂ by 8¹⁄₂ inches before trimming, 908 pages)
may seem awkward to handle and read, but its imposing size and shape were
a mark of esteem in its day. The tall “folio” format was traditionally reserved
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➤ page 2 of 35 ➤ f ol ger sh a k e spe a r e l ibr a ry
for lectern Bibles, annals and lawbooks, Foxe’s Book of Martyrs, and the
classics in translation; its use for literary works had been largely restricted to O
such proven poets as Chaucer and Spenser, to the prose and verse of King
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James I himself, and to the audacious Ben Jonson, whose grandly titled
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Workes of 1616—mostly, but not all, plays—no doubt helped to inspire the
1623 Shakespeare project. Jonson was likewise the first living dramatist to ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
have his portrait (crowned with laurels) engraved and sold, although here ➤ The First Folio
his famous lines opposite the image of his colleague on the title page tell us
➤ Print About this book…
to concentrate on the contents of the book, not the accurate likeness.
Invaluable as text though it is, and imposing as an object, the first
Shakespeare folio was not always so venerated as nowadays. Less than a ➤ book contents
thousand copies—perhaps 750 or so—took nearly a decade to sell, and a ➤ advanced features
reprint of 1632 (the Second Folio) proved more attractive to many contem-
porary booklovers. Whereas the First Folio had been compiled by two of ➤ about this edition
Shakespeare’s friends and fellow-actors, drawing on what they claimed was ➤ help & tips
access to “his papers,” the anonymous editor(s) of 1632 worked largely by
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common sense—correcting many old printer’s errors, but introducing a host
of new ones, based on misunderstandings of Shakespeare’s already slightly
archaic language. But the 1632 volume itself was more handsomely produced
than the First Folio, and printed on what one Puritan controversialist
complained was “the best crown paper, better than most Bibles”; and this
was the form of Shakespeare’s plays chosen by King Charles I and his
nephew Prince Rupert, by the diarist and bibliophile John Evelyn, and
by other fastidious readers. Thirty years later, after the Civil Wars and
the Restoration of the theater-loving monarchy, a Third Folio (1663–64)
reprinted the text of the Second, with further corruption, but added a
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supplement of seven plays “never before printed in folio,” only one of which
(Pericles) is now accepted as Shakespeare’s. This version might have seemed O
even better, to an age attuned to the notion of technical progress, and the
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Bodleian Library at Oxford—which had once purchased a copy of the 1623
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collection—obtained a copy of the Third Folio and cheerfully discarded
their First: not until 1905, with considerable serendipity, did they succeed ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
in repossessing it. Rounding out a seventeenth-century quartet, the Fourth ➤ The First Folio
Folio of 1685 reproduced the text of the 1663–64 Third, the copyright now
being shared by four booksellers. This last, and most textually debased early
edition, served for nearly eighty years as the main source of all subsequent
versions, however proud each editor in turn claimed to be of “collating” or ➤ book contents
comparing the First, Second, and Third Folios, and the individual quartos ➤ advanced features
that sometimes preceded them.
Thus when the time seemed ripe for a new multivolume Shakespeare ➤ about this edition
in a handier format, its intending publisher, Jacob Tonson, purchased the ➤ help & tips
copyright of 1685 ; and his editor, the poet/playwright Nicholas Rowe, based
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the octavo editions of 1709 and 1714 on the recent Fourth Folio, not the
“superseded” First. Rowe did at least consult the earlier texts, if only when
problematic readings arose, but his successor Alexander Pope viewed the
1623 Folio and all its descendants as little more than necessary evils, because
of what he thought were “trifling and bombast passages” added by players,
and omissions of “beautiful passages … without any other reason than their
willingness to shorten some scenes.” Although Pope owned a copy of the
First Folio, and realized that “all the rest [of the folios] have implicitly
followed it,” he regarded it as so irresponsible from the start that he virtually
rewrote passages he disapproved of, and what he considered “interpolations”
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he “degraded to the bottom of the page, with an Asterix referring to the
places of their insertion.” Edmond Malone, the most astute of eighteenth- O
century editors, ranked Pope with the overseer of the 1632 Folio as one of
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“the two great corruptors of our poet’s text.”
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Pope’s great adversary Lewis Theobald, a finical but far more painstak-
ing scholar than Pope, treated the First and Second Folios (as opposed to ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
the Third, with the Fourth not even named) as “editions of authority,” but ➤ The First Folio
his own editions of 1733 and 1740 show continued dependence on the last.
His coadjutor and successor Bishop Warburton also paid lip-service to 1623,
but like Theobald used it primarily for alternative readings when the later
ones seemed questionable. The first editor to declare firmly for 1623 as the ➤ book contents
supreme Folio text was Samuel Johnson in 1765, reporting that “I collated ➤ advanced features
them all at the beginning, but afterwards used only the first”; for “the
first is equivalent to all others, and … the rest only deviate from it by the ➤ about this edition
printer’s negligence.” No matter that the strict Joseph Ritson accused the ➤ help & tips
great critic of never collating anything fully, rather having only “picked out a
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reading here and there from the old editions … all his predecessors did the
same”—Johnson’s judgment was (rightly) etched in stone for posterity.
Johnson’s subsequent collaborator, George Steevens, a deeply read but
mischievous Shakespearean, took an early view (1766) of the First Folio
somewhat akin to Pope’s, as having suffered—in contradistinction to the
quartos, which he preferred—from “the licentious alteration of the players”
as well as carelessness by both the old editors and the printers. But by
1773 Steevens agreed that 1623 was “the earliest and most correct” of the
four Folios. He did cleave somewhat to the Second, deeming some of its
near-contemporary corrections “not merely such as reiteration of copies will
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naturally produce”; but his former friend and rival, the judicious Edmond
Malone, would have none of that: “Of all the plays of which there are no O
quarto copies extant the first folio, printed in 1623, is the only authentick
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edition,” he wrote, in his magisterial “variorum” edition of 1790. The Second
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Folio, he added, differs from the First “by negligence or chance; but much
more frequently by the editor’s profound ignorance of our poet’s phraseology ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
and metre, in consequence of which there is scarce a page of the book which ➤ The First Folio
is not disfigured by the capricious alterations introduced.” On that note, the
vindication of the First Folio was complete, and its textual reputation has
hardly wavered since then.
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As scholars and editors joined in endorsing the literary importance of the
First Folio, book collectors followed suit in the marketplace. In the 1750s
and 1760s a good copy of the book cost three guineas (about triple the price
of a new novel by Fielding or Richardson), rising to seven in the 1770s,
➤ help & tips
and nine or ten in the 1780s. Early editors, even the impecunious Theobald
and the often hard-up Dr. Johnson, could all afford copies if they liked, ➤ exit
but George Steevens, a dedicated bibliophile, found the escalated figures

alarming. After the Duke of Roxburghe, in a moment of auction frenzy
in 1790, paid no less than thirty-four guineas for a “very fine” copy,
Steevens moaned that it had become “the most expensive single book in our
language,” and told his fellow Shakespearean Isaac Reed that a bookseller
“thinks he shall do me a favour by letting me have [a different copy] at
the small charge of twenty guineas.” By 1793, as Steevens also complained,
the increased scarcity of the book had led to all sorts of fakery on inferior
copies: missing leaves reprinted or supplied from the Second Folio, title
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pages made up out of later strikes of the portrait with spurious letterpress,
deceptively “lined at the back, and discoloured with tobacco-water till it O
has assumed the true jaune antique.” His own copy—and Steevens pos-
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sessed forty-nine of the much rarer Shakespeare and pseudo-Shakespear-
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ean quartos, as well as Charles I’s morocco-bound Second Folio—was
imperfect, with its title page and portrait in his own penmanship. It still ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
made twenty-two pounds at his posthumous sale (1800). ➤ The First Folio
Twelve years later the Roxburghe copy trebled its cost at £100, and in
1818 Thomas Grenville paid £121 16s. for another “fine original copy … in
a genuine state,” which he unwisely rebound. Thomas Frognall Dibdin, the
author of Bibliomania; or Book Madness (1809), thought this “the highest price ➤ book contents
ever given, or likely to be given for the volume,” and for the next three ➤ advanced features
decades, including the slump of the 1830s, the price held in that range. But
it rose again in the 1850s, and in 1864 the very fine Moore-Booth-Rokewood ➤ about this edition
copy—perhaps the finest of all, physically—in the sale of George Daniel ➤ help & tips
established a record that stood for twenty-seven years. Angela Burdett-
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Coutts, “the richest heiress in all England,” paid a staggering £716 2s. for it
(as recounted in the Provenance section of this Octavo Edition), for that is
the First Folio whose simulacrum you have here. Later records were set to be
broken, of course: £1,000 in 1899, surpassed within a month at £1,700 (or
$ 8,500, for by now copies were more often than not bound for America).
Nor has the twentieth century seen any downturn: copies fetched six figures
in dollars in the 1970s and 1980s, peaking twice at over $600,000, and in
1989 a handsome “set” of the Four Folios made nearly 2.1 million dollars,
three-quarters of which would probably apply to the First.
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Of the original press-run of about 750, some 240 copies of the First Folio ➤ about this book
are now known, representing (for most are incomplete and/or “made up” ➤ Text as Icon
from other defective copies) perhaps 300 original volumes, as Peter Blayney
has estimated. That is not a bad survival rate, in spite of three centuries’
➤ The First Folio
enthusiastic reading; but of all these only a dozen or so are said to be
“perfect and unrestored” (i.e., copies that seem never to have been tampered ➤ Print About this book…
with in some material respect), and not one of them remains in a strictly ➤ bibliographical items
contemporary binding. The Burdett-Coutts copy here reproduced is one of
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these very few integral specimens, although rebound in the late eighteenth
century. There are several other “special” copies, but disappointingly few
with early ownership evidence: Ben Jonson must have owned one once, but
his first library was destroyed by fire in October 1623 ; Jonson’s Scottish
➤ help & tips
host William Drummond of Hawthornden, a regular purchaser of plays
by Shakespeare, Kyd, Dekker, Middleton, Marston, and others, also seems ➤ exit
to have bypassed this volume. Robert Burton, author of The Anatomy of

Melancholy, possessed a copy, as did Bishop John Cosin of Durham, but
not John Donne, nor the poet and play-collector Sir John Harington, nor
possibly John Milton (whose first published verses, in praise of Shakespeare,
were written for the 1632 reprint). The original publisher, William Jaggard,
presented one to Augustine Vincent, author of a work he had published a
year earlier, but what became of those given the Earls of Pembroke and
Montgomery, the “incomparable paire of brethren” and joint dedicatees,
or for that matter those of the two faithful editors? Copies marked up
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by contemporaries for performance or other use are likewise elusive, one
(perhaps used for private theatricals) now in Padua, one known only from O
fragments, and a third (from the library of the Spanish Ambassador, Count
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Gondomar) now apparently lost; the B.B. McGeorge–Philadelphia Free
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Library copy is extensively annotated by two seventeenth-century readers,
but at least one other (the Egerton-Ellesmere, at the Huntington Library) ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
owes its marginalia to the nineteenth-century scholar-forger John Payne ➤ The First Folio
Collier, who inserted his own textual corrections/improvements, in a decep-
tively antique script, and later employed them as “contemporary evidence” in
his Shakespeare editions. Icons attract blasphemy!
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Given the inexorable rise in price since the mid-eighteenth century, and
the diminishing availability of complete (if reconstructed) copies of the
celebrated book, scholars, book collectors, and curious readers have long
consoled themselves with reproductions. The first of these was prepared in
➤ help & tips
1807 by Francis Douce, an expensive line-for-line reprint (with plenty of
errors), followed by a reduced three-volume version in 1864, and a photo- ➤ exit
lithographic facsimile two years later. Others by J.O. Halliwell-Phillips

(1876), Sir Sidney Lee (1902), and Methuen Publishers (1910) supplied read-
ers until 1955, when a reduced and sadly misprinted facsimile appeared; and
in 1968 Charlton Hinman, author of the standard bibliographical account of
the First Folio, edited the highly serviceable “Norton Facsimile.” The last
was assembled—like most of its predecessors—from more than one original,
but there is good reason to wish for a single-copy facsimile as well. With the
present cd-rom, Octavo has made available the traditional “finest” of the
Folger Library’s great hoard, an appropriate choice.
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Arthur Freeman has published several books and many articles on the literature
and bibliography of the age of Shakespeare. Thomas Kyd: Facts and Problems O
(Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1967) dates from his years at Harvard and ➤ about this book
as a professor at Boston University. Elizabeth’s Misfits: Brief Lives of English
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Eccentrics … 1580–1660 (New York: Garland, 1978) appeared during his twenty-
five-year association with the London booksellers Bernard Quaritch Ltd. Since ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
1997, he has dealt independently in rare books and manuscripts in the intervals of
➤ The First Folio
work (with his wife Janet Ing Freeman) on a massive biography of the nineteenth-
century Shakespeare scholar and forger John Payne Collier. ➤ Print About this book…
f u rther r e a ding
➤ book contents
Secondary literature concerning almost any aspect of Shakespeare is endless, but
a short list of studies of the First Folio, and of its editorial history and cult, is ➤ advanced features
provided below. By far the best, most up-to-date, and most readable brief account
is Peter W.M. Blayney’s The First Folio of Shakespeare (Washington, D.C.: Folger ➤ about this edition
Library Publications, 1991), the entire text of which is included on this disc.
➤ help & tips
Greg, Walter Wilson. The Shakespeare First Folio. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1955.
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Hinman, Charlton. The Printing and Proof-Reading of the First Folio of Shakespeare.
2 vols. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1963.
Lee, Sidney. Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies … a Census of Extant
Copies. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1902.
———. Notes & Additions to the Census. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1906.
Otness, Harold M. The Shakespeare Folio Handbook and Census. New York: Green-
wood Press, 1990.
Pollard, Alfred William. Shakespeare Folios and Quartos. London: Methuen, 1909.
Smith, David Nichol. Shakespeare in the Eighteenth Century. Oxford: Clarendon
Press, 1928.
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Vicars, Brian, ed. Shakespeare: The Critical Heritage. 6 vols. London: Routledge &
Kegan Paul, 1974–81.
Walker, Alice. Textual Problems of the First Folio. Cambridge: Cambridge Univer-
O
sity Press, 1953. ➤ about this book
West, Anthony James. “Provisional New Census of the Shakespeare First Folio,” ➤ Text as Icon
The Library, Sixth Series, 17: 1 (1995), 60–73.
———. “Sales and Prices of Shakespeare First Folios,” Papers of the Bibliographical
Society of America 92:4 (1998), 465–528 and 93: 1 (1999), 74–142. ➤ The First Folio
Willougby, Edwin Eliot. The Printing of the First Folio of Shakespeare. London: ➤ Print About this book…
Bibliographical Society, 1932.
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Shakespeare, the Stage, and the Book O
S t e p h e n O r g e l a n d A . R . B rau n mu l l e r ➤ about this book
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The Theatrical World ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
Economic realities determined the theatrical world in which Shakespeare’s ➤ The First Folio
plays were written, performed, and received. For centuries in England, the
primary theatrical tradition was nonprofessional. Craft guilds (or “myster-
ies”) provided religious drama—mystery plays—as part of the celebration
of religious and civic festivals, and schools and universities staged classical ➤ book contents
and neoclassical drama in both Latin and English as part of their curricula. ➤ advanced features
In these forms, drama was established and socially acceptable. Professional
theater, in contrast, existed on the margins of society. The acting companies ➤ about this edition
were itinerant; playhouses could be any available space—the great halls of ➤ help & tips
the aristocracy, town squares, civic halls, inn yards, fair booths, or open
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fields—and income was sporadic, dependent on the passing of the hat or
on the bounty of local patrons. The actors, moreover, were considered little
better than vagabonds, constantly in danger of arrest or expulsion.
In the later 1560s and 1570s, however, English professional theater
began to gain respectability. Wealthy aristocrats fond of drama—the Lord
Admiral, for example, or the Lord Chamberlain—took acting companies
“The Theatrical World” by Stephen Orgel and A.R. Braunmuller, “The Texts of Shakespeare”
by Stephen Orgel and A.R. Braunmuller, from the pelican shakespeare – 2nd edition
by William Shakespeare, edited by Stephen Orgel & A.R. Braunmuller, copyright © 1999 by
Penguin Putnam Inc. Used by permission of Penguin, a division of Penguin Putnam Inc.
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under their protection so that the players technically became members of
their households and were no longer subject to arrest as homeless or master- O
less men. Permanent theaters were first built at this time as well, allowing
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the companies to control and charge for entry to their performances.
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Shakespeare’s livelihood, and the stunning artistic explosion in which
he participated, depended on pragmatic and architectural effort. Profes- ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
sional theater requires ways to restrict access to its offerings; if it does ➤ The First Folio
not, and admission fees cannot be charged, the actors do not get paid, the
costumes go to a pawnbroker, and there is no such thing as a professional,
ongoing theatrical tradition. The answer to that economic need arrived
in the late 1560s and 1570s with the creation of the so-called public or ➤ book contents
amphitheater playhouse. Recent discoveries indicate that the precursor of ➤ advanced features
the Globe playhouse in London (where Shakespeare’s mature plays were
presented) and the Rose theater (which presented Christopher Marlowe’s ➤ about this edition
plays and some of Shakespeare’s earliest ones) was the Red Lion theater ➤ help & tips
of 1567. Archaeological studies of the foundations of the Rose and Globe
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theaters have revealed that the open-air theater of the 1590s and later
was probably a polygonal building with fourteen to twenty or twenty-four
sides, multistoried, from 75 to 100 feet in diameter, with a raised, partly
covered “thrust” stage that projected into a group of standing patrons, or
“groundlings,” and a covered gallery, seating up to 2,500 or more (very
crowded) spectators.
These theaters might have been about half full on any given day,
though the audiences were larger on holidays or when a play was advertised,
as old and new were, through printed playbills posted around London. The
metropolitan area’s late-Tudor, early-Stuart population (circa 1590–1620) has
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been estimated at about 150,000 to 250,000. It has been supposed that in
the mid 1590s there were about 15,000 spectators per week at the public O
theaters; thus, as many as 10 percent of the local population went to the
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theater regularly. Consequently, the theaters’ repertories—the plays available
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for this experienced and frequent audience—had to change often: in the
month between September 15 and October 15, 1595, for instance, the Lord ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
Admiral’s Men performed twenty-eight times in eighteen different plays. ➤ The First Folio
Since natural light illuminated the amphitheaters’ stages, performances
began between noon and two o’clock and ran without a break for two or
three hours. They often concluded with a jig, a fencing display, or some
other nondramatic exhibition. Weather conditions determined the season ➤ book contents
for the amphitheaters: plays were performed every day (including Sundays, ➤ advanced features
sometimes, to clerical dismay) except during Lent—the forty days before
Easter—or periods of plague, or sometimes during the summer months ➤ about this edition
when law courts were not in session and the most affluent members of the ➤ help & tips
audience were not in London.
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To a modern theatergoer, an amphitheater stage like that of the Rose
or Globe would appear an unfamiliar mixture of plainness and elaborate
decoration. Much of the structure was carved or painted, sometimes to
imitate marble; elsewhere, as under the canopy projecting over the stage,
to represent the stars and the zodiac. Appropriate painted canvas pictures
(of Jerusalem, for example, if the play was set in that city) were apparently
hung on the wall behind the acting area, and tragedies were accompanied
by black hangings, presumably something like crepe festoons or bunting.
Although these theaters did not employ what we would call scenery, early
modern spectators saw numerous large props, such as the “bar” at which
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a prisoner stood during a trial, the “mossy bank” where lovers reclined,
an arbor for amorous conversation, a chariot, gallows, tables, trees, beds, O
thrones, writing desks, and so forth. Audiences might learn a scene’s loca-
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tion from a sign (reading “Athens,” for example) carried across the stage
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(as in Bertolt Brecht’s twentieth-century productions). Equally captivating
(and equally irritating to the theater’s enemies) were the rich costumes and ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
personal props the actors used: the most valuable items in the surviving ➤ The First Folio
theatrical inventories are the swords, gowns, robes, crowns, and other items
worn or carried by the performers.
Magic appealed to Shakespeare’s audiences as much as it does to us
today, and the theater exploited many deceptive and spectacular devices. ➤ book contents
A winch in the loft above the stage, called “the heavens,” could lower ➤ advanced features
and raise actors playing gods, goddesses, and other supernatural figures to
and from the main acting area, just as one or more trapdoors permitted ➤ about this edition
entrances and exits to and from the area, called “hell,” beneath the stage. ➤ help & tips
Actors wore elementary makeup such as wigs, false beards, and face paint,
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and they employed pig’s bladders fi lled with animal blood to make wounds
seem more real. They had rudimentary but effective ways of pretending
to behead or hang a person. Supernumeraries (stagehands or actors not
needed in a particular scene) could make thunder sounds (by shaking a
metal sheet or rolling an iron ball down a chute) and show lightning (by
blowing inflammable resin through tubes into a flame). Elaborate fireworks
enhanced the effects of dragons flying through the air or imitated such
celestial phenomena as comets, shooting stars, and multiple suns. Horses’
hoofbeats, bells (located perhaps in the tower above the stage), trumpets
and drums, clocks, cannon shots and gunshots, and the like were common
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sound effects. And the music of viols, cornets, oboes, and recorders was a
regular feature of theatrical performances. O
For two relatively brief spans, from the late 1570s to 1590 and from 1599
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to 1614, the amphitheaters competed with the so-called private, or indoor,
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theaters, which originated as, or later represented themselves as, educational
institutions training boys as singers for church services and court performances. ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
These indoor theaters had two features that were distinct from the amphi- ➤ The First Folio
theaters’: their personnel and their playing spaces. The amphitheaters’ adult
companies included both adult men, who played the male roles, and boys, who
played the female roles; the private, or indoor, theater companies, on the other
hand, were entirely composed of boys aged about 8 to 16, who were, or could ➤ book contents
pretend to be, candidates for singers in a church or a royal boys’ choir. (Until ➤ advanced features
1660, professional theatrical companies included no women.) Their playing
space would appear much more familiar to modern audiences than the long- ➤ about this edition
vanished amphitheaters; the later indoor theaters were, in fact, the ancestors ➤ help & tips
of the typical modern theater. They were enclosed spaces, usually rectangular,
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with the stage filling one end of the rectangle and the audience arrayed in
seats or benches across (and sometimes lining) the building’s longer axis. These
spaces staged plays less frequently than the public theaters (perhaps only once
a week) and held far fewer spectators than the amphitheaters: about 200 to
600, as opposed to 2,500 or more. Fewer patrons mean a smaller gross income,
unless each pays more. Not surprisingly, then, private theaters charged higher
prices than the amphitheaters, probably sixpence, as opposed to a penny for
the cheapest entry.
Protected from the weather, the indoor theaters presented plays later in
the day than the amphitheaters, and used artificial illumination—candles
William Shakespeare
in sconces or candelabra. But candles melt, and need replacing, snuffing,
and trimming, and these practical requirements may have been part of O
the reason the indoor theaters introduced breaks in the performance, the
➤ about this book
intermission so dear to the heart of theatergoers and to the pocketbooks of
➤ Text as Icon
theater concessionaires ever since. Whether motivated by the need to tend
to the candles or by the entrepreneurs’ wishing to sell oranges and liquor, ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
or both, the indoor theaters eventually established the modern convention ➤ The First Folio
of the noncontinuous performance. In the early modern “private” theater,
musical performances apparently filled the intermissions, which in Stuart
theater jargon seem to have been called “acts.”
At the end of the first decade of the seventeenth century, the distinc- ➤ book contents
tion between public amphitheaters and private indoor companies ceased. ➤ advanced features
For various cultural, political, and economic reasons, individual companies
gained control of both the public, open-air theaters and the indoor ones, ➤ about this edition
and companies mixing adult men and boys took over the formerly “private” ➤ help & tips
theaters. Despite the death of the boys’ companies and of their highly
➤ exit
innovative theaters (for which such luminous playwrights as Ben Jonson,
George Chapman, and John Marston wrote), their playing spaces and
conventions had an immense impact on subsequent plays: not merely for the
intervals (which stressed the artistic and architectonic importance of “acts”),
but also because they introduced political and social satire as a popular
dramatic ingredient, even in tragedy, and a wider range of actorly effects,
encouraged by their more intimate playing spaces.
Even the briefest sketch of the Shakespearean theatrical world would
be incomplete without some comment on the social and cultural dimensions
of theaters and playing in the period. In an intensely hierarchical and
William Shakespeare
status-conscious society, professional actors and their ventures had hardly
any respectability; as we have indicated, to protect themselves against laws O
designed to curb vagabondage and the increase of masterless men, actors
➤ about this book
resorted to the near-fiction that they were the servants of noble masters,
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and wore their distinctive livery. Hence the company for which Shakespeare
wrote in the 1590s called itself the Lord Chamberlain’s Men and pretended ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
that the public, money-getting performances were in fact rehearsals for ➤ The First Folio
private performances before that high court official. From 1598, the Privy
Council had licensed theatrical companies, and after 1603, with the acces-
sion of King James I, the companies gained explicit royal protection, just as
the Queen’s Men had for a time under Queen Elizabeth. The Chamberlain’s ➤ book contents
Men became the King’s Men, and the other companies were patronized by ➤ advanced features
the other members of the royal family.
These designations were legal fictions that half-concealed an important ➤ about this edition
economic and social development: the evolution away from the theater’s ➤ help & tips
organization on the model of the guild, a self-regulating confraternity
➤ exit
of individual artisans, into a proto-capitalist organization. Shakespeare’s
company became a joint-stock company, where persons who supplied capital
and, in some cases, such as Shakespeare’s, capital and talent, employed
themselves and others in earning a return on that capital. This development
meant that actors and theater companies were outside both the traditional
guild structures, which required some form of civic or royal charter, and
the feudal household organization of master-and-servant. This anomalous,
maverick social and economic condition made theater companies practically
unruly and potentially even dangerous; consequently, numerous official
bodies—including the London metropolitan and ecclesiastical authorities as
William Shakespeare
well as, occasionally, the royal court itself—tried, without much success, to
control and even to disband them. O
Public officials had good reason to want to close the theaters: they
➤ about this book
were attractive nuisances—they drew often riotous crowds, they were always
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noisy, and they could be politically offensive and socially insubordinate.
Until the Civil War, however, anti-theatrical forces failed to shut down ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
professional theater, for many reasons—limited surveillance and few police ➤ The First Folio
powers, tensions or outright hostilities among the agencies that sought to
check or channel theatrical activity, and lack of clear policies for control.
Another reason must have been the theaters’ undeniable popularity. Curtail-
ing any activity enjoyed by such a substantial percentage of the population ➤ book contents
was difficult, as various Roman emperors attempting to limit circuses had ➤ advanced features
learned, and the Tudor-Stuart audience was not merely large, it was socially
diverse and included women. The prevalence of public entertainment in this ➤ about this edition
period has been underestimated. In fact, fairs, holidays, games, sporting ➤ help & tips
events, the equivalent of modern parades, freak shows, and street exhibitions
➤ exit
all abounded, but the theater was the most widely and frequently available
entertainment to which people of every class had access. That fact helps
account both for its quantity and for the fear and anger it aroused.
William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon, Gentleman

Many people have said that we know very little about William Shake-
speare’s life—pinheads and postcards are often mentioned as appropriately
tiny surfaces on which to record the available information. More imagina-
tively and perhaps more correctly, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Shake-
speare is the only biographer of Shakespeare. … So far from Shakespeare’s
William Shakespeare
being the least known, he is the one person in all modern history fully
known to us.” O
In fact, we know more about Shakespeare’s life than we do about
➤ about this book
almost any other English writer’s of his era. His last will and testament
➤ Text as Icon
(dated March 25, 1616) survives, as do numerous legal contracts and court
documents involving Shakespeare as principal or witness, and parish records ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
in Stratford and London. Shakespeare appears quite often in official records ➤ The First Folio
of King James’ royal court, and of course Shakespeare’s name appears on
numerous title pages and in the written and recorded words of his literary
contemporaries Robert Greene, Henry Chettle, Francis Meres, John Davies
of Hereford, Ben Jonson, and many others. Indeed, if we make due allow- ➤ book contents
ance for the bloating of modern, run-of-the-mill bureaucratic records, more ➤ advanced features
information has survived over the past four hundred years about William
Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, than is likely to sur- ➤ about this edition
vive in the next four hundred years about any reader of these words. ➤ help & tips
What we do not have are entire categories of information—Shake-
➤ exit
speare’s private letters or diaries, drafts and revisions of poems and
plays, critical prefaces or essays, commendatory verse for other writers’
works, or instructions guiding his fellow actors in their performances, for
instance—that we imagine would help us understand and appreciate his
surviving writings. For all we know, many such data never existed as writ-
ten records. Many literary and theatrical critics, not knowing what might
once have existed, more or less cheerfully accept the situation; some even
make a theoretical virtue of it by claiming that such data are irrelevant to
understanding and interpreting the plays and poems.
William Shakespeare
So, what do we know about William Shakespeare, the man responsible
for thirty-seven or perhaps more plays, more than 150 sonnets, two lengthy O
narrative poems, and some shorter poems?
➤ about this book
While many families by the name of Shakespeare (or some variant
➤ Text as Icon
spelling) can be identified in the English Midlands as far back as the
twelfth century, it seems likely that the dramatist’s grandfather, Richard, ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
moved to Snitterfield, a town not far from Stratford-upon-Avon, sometime ➤ The First Folio
before 1529. In Snitterfield, Richard Shakespeare leased farmland from the
very wealthy Robert Arden. By 1552, Richard’s son John had moved to a
large house on Henley Street in Stratford-upon-Avon, the house that stands
today as “The Birthplace.” In Stratford, John Shakespeare traded as a glover, ➤ book contents
dealt in wool, and lent money at interest; he also served in a variety of civic ➤ advanced features
posts, including “High Bailiff,” the municipality’s equivalent of mayor. In
1557, he married Robert Arden’s youngest daughter, Mary. Mary and John ➤ about this edition
had four sons—William was the oldest—and four daughters, of whom only ➤ help & tips
Joan outlived her most celebrated sibling. William was baptized (an event
➤ exit
entered in the Stratford parish church records) on April 26, 1564, and it
has become customary, without any good factual support, to suppose he
was born on April 23, which happens to be the feast day of Saint George,
patron saint of England, and is also the date on which he died, in 1616.
Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway in 1582, when he was eighteen and
she was twenty-six; their first child was born five months later. It has
been generally assumed that the marriage was enforced and subsequently
unhappy, but these are only assumptions; it has been estimated, for instance,
that up to one-third of Elizabethan brides were pregnant when they mar-
ried. Anne and William Shakespeare had three children: Susanna, who
William Shakespeare
married a prominent local physician, John Hall; and the twins Hamnet,
who died young in 1596, and Judith, who married Thomas Quiney—appar- O
ently a rather shady individual. The name Hamnet was unusual but not
➤ about this book
unique: he and his twin sister were named for their godparents, Shake-
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speare’s neighbors Hamnet and Judith Sadler. Shakespeare’s father died in
1601 (the year of Hamlet), and Mary Arden Shakespeare died in 1608 (the ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
year of Coriolanus). William Shakespeare’s last surviving direct descendant ➤ The First Folio
was his granddaughter Elizabeth Hall, who died in 1670.
Between the birth of the twins in 1585 and a clear reference to Shake-
speare as a practicing London dramatist in Robert Greene’s sensational-
izing, satiric pamphlet, Greene’s Groatsworth of Wit (1592), there is no record ➤ book contents
of where William Shakespeare was or what he was doing. These seven ➤ advanced features
so-called lost years have been imaginatively filled by scholars and other
students of Shakespeare: some think he traveled to Italy, or fought in the ➤ about this edition
Low Countries, or studied law or medicine, or worked as an apprentice ➤ help & tips
actor/writer, or so on to even more fanciful possibilities. Whatever the
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biographical facts for those “lost” years, Greene’s nasty remarks in 1592
testify to professional envy and to the fact that Shakespeare already had
a successful career in London. Speaking to his fellow playwrights, Greene
warns both generally and specifically:
… trust them [actors] not: for there is an upstart crow, beauti-

fied with our feathers, that with his tiger’s heart wrapped in
a player’s hide supposes he is as well able to bombast out a
blank verse as the best of you; and being an absolute Johannes
Factotum, is in his own conceit the only Shake-scene in a
country.
William Shakespeare
The passage mimics a line from 3 Henry VI (hence the play must have been
performed before Greene wrote) and seems to say that “Shake-scene” is both O
actor and playwright, a jack-of-all-trades. That same year, Henry Chettle
➤ about this book
protested Greene’s remarks in Kind-Heart’s Dream, and each of the next
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two years saw the publication of poems—Venus and Adonis and The Rape of
Lucrece, respectively—publicly ascribed to (and dedicated by) Shakespeare. ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
Early in 1595 he was named one of the senior members of a prominent acting ➤ The First Folio
company, the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, when they received payment for
court performances during the 1594 Christmas season.
Clearly, Shakespeare had achieved both success and reputation in
London. In 1596, upon Shakespeare’s application, the College of Arms ➤ book contents
granted his father the now-familiar coat of arms he had taken the first ➤ advanced features
steps to obtain almost twenty years before, and in 1598, John’s son—now
permitted to call himself “gentleman”—took a ten percent share in the new ➤ about this edition
Globe playhouse. In 1597, he bought a substantial bourgeois house, called ➤ help & tips
New Place, in Stratford—the garden remains, but Shakespeare’s house,
➤ exit
several times rebuilt, was torn down in 1759—and over the next few years
Shakespeare spent large sums buying land and making other investments
in the town and its environs. Though he worked in London, his family
remained in Stratford, and he seems always to have considered Stratford
the home he would eventually return to. Something approaching a disinter-
ested appreciation of Shakespeare’s popular and professional status appears
in Francis Meres’ Palladis Tamia (1598), a not especially imaginative and
perhaps therefore persuasive record of literary reputations. Reviewing con-
temporary English writers, Meres lists the titles of many of Shakespeare’s
plays, including one not now known, Love’s Labor’s Won, and praises his
William Shakespeare
“mellifluous & hony-tongued” “sugred Sonnets,” which were then circulat-
ing in manuscript (they were first collected in 1609). Meres describes O
Shakespeare as “one of the best” English playwrights of both comedy and
➤ about this book
tragedy. In Remains … Concerning Britain (1605), William Camden—a
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more authoritative source than the imitative Meres—calls Shakespeare one
of the “most pregnant witts of these our times” and joins him with such ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
writers as Chapman, Daniel, Jonson, Marston, and Spenser. During the first ➤ The First Folio
decades of the seventeenth century, publishers began to attribute numerous
play quartos, including some non-Shakespearean ones, to Shakespeare, either
by name or initials, and we may assume that they deemed Shakespeare’s
name and supposed authorship, true or false, commercially attractive. ➤ book contents
For the next ten years or so, various records show Shakespeare’s dual ➤ advanced features
career as playwright and man of the theater in London, and as an important
local figure in Stratford. In 1608–09, his acting company—designated the ➤ about this edition
“King’s Men” soon after King James had succeeded Queen Elizabeth in ➤ help & tips
1603—rented, refurbished, and opened a small interior playing space, the
➤ exit
Blackfriars Theater, in London, and Shakespeare was once again listed as a
substantial sharer in the group of proprietors of the playhouse. By May 11,
1612, however, he describes himself as a Stratford resident in a London
lawsuit—an indication that he had withdrawn from day-to-day professional
activity and returned to the town where he had always had his main financial
interests. When Shakespeare bought a substantial residential building in
London, the Blackfriars Gatehouse, close to the theater of the same name,
on March 10, 1613, he is recorded as William Shakespeare “of Stratford
upon Avon in the county of Warwick, gentleman,” and he named several
London residents as the building’s trustees. Still, he continued to participate
William Shakespeare
in theatrical activity: when the new Earl of Rutland needed an allegorical
design to bear as a shield, or impresa, at the celebration of King James’ O
Accession Day, March 24, 1613, the earl’s accountant recorded a payment of
➤ about this book
44 shillings to Shakespeare for the device with its motto.
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For the last few years of his life, Shakespeare evidently concentrated his
activities in the town of his birth. Most of the final records concern business ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
transactions in Stratford, ending with the notation of his death on April 23, ➤ The First Folio
1616, and burial in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.
The Question of Authorship ➤ bibliographical items
The history of ascribing Shakespeare’s plays (the poems do not come up ➤ book contents
so often) to someone else began, as it continues, peculiarly. The earliest ➤ advanced features
published claim that someone else wrote Shakespeare’s plays appeared in
an 1856 article by Delia Bacon in the American journal Putnam’s Monthly— ➤ about this edition
although an Englishman, Thomas Wilmot, had shared his doubts in private ➤ help & tips
(even secretive) conversations with friends near the end of the eighteenth
➤ exit
century. Bacon’s was a sad personal history that ended in madness and
poverty, but the year after her article, she published, with great difficulty
and the bemused assistance of Nathaniel Hawthorne (then United States
Consul in Liverpool, England), her Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere
Unfolded. This huge, ornately written, confusing farrago is almost unread-
able; sometimes its intents, to say nothing of its arguments, disappear
entirely beneath near-raving, ecstatic writing. Tumbled in with much sup-
posed “philosophy” appear the claims that Francis Bacon (from whom
Delia Bacon eventually claimed descent), Walter Ralegh, and several other
William Shakespeare
contemporaries of Shakespeare’s had written the plays. The book had little
impact except as a ridiculed curiosity. O
Once proposed, however, the issue gained momentum among people
➤ about this book
whose conviction was the greater in proportion to their ignorance of
➤ Text as Icon
sixteenth- and seventeenth-century English literature, history, and society.
Another American amateur, Catherine P. Ashmead Windle, made the ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
next influential contribution to the cause when she published Report to ➤ The First Folio
the British Museum (1882), wherein she promised to open “the Cipher of
Francis Bacon,” though what she mostly offers, in the words of S. Schoen-
baum, is “demented allegorizing.” An entire new cottage industry grew
from Windle’s suggestion that the texts contain hidden, cryptographically ➤ book contents
discoverable ciphers—“clues”—to their authorship; and today there are not ➤ advanced features
only books devoted to the putative ciphers, but also pamphlets, journals,
and newsletters. ➤ about this edition
Although Baconians have led the pack of those seeking a substitute ➤ help & tips
Shakespeare, in “Shakespeare” Identified (1920), J. Thomas Looney became
➤ exit
the first published “Oxfordian” when he proposed Edward de Vere, seven-
teenth earl of Oxford, as the secret author of Shakespeare’s plays. Also
for Oxford and his “authorship” there are today dedicated societies, articles,
journals, and books. Less popular candidates—Queen Elizabeth and Chris-
topher Marlowe among them—have had adherents, but the movement seems
to have divided into two main contending factions, Baconian and Oxfordian.
(For further details on all the candidates for “Shakespeare,” see S. Schoen-
baum, Shakespeare’s Lives, 2nd ed. [Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1991].)
The Baconians, the Oxfordians, and supporters of other candidates
have one trait in common—they are snobs. Every pro-Bacon or pro-Oxford
William Shakespeare
tract sooner or later claims that the historical William Shakespeare of
Stratford-upon-Avon could not have written the plays because he could O
not have had the training, the university education, the experience, and
➤ about this book
indeed the imagination or background their author supposedly possessed.
➤ Text as Icon
Only a learned genius like Bacon or an aristocrat like Oxford could have
written such fine plays. (As it happens, lucky male children of the middle ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
class had access to better education than most aristocrats in Elizabethan ➤ The First Folio
England—and Oxford was not particularly well educated.) Shakespeare
received in the Stratford grammar school a formal education that would
daunt many college graduates today; and popular rival playwrights such as
the very learned Ben Jonson and George Chapman, both of whom also ➤ book contents
lacked university training, achieved great artistic success, without being ➤ advanced features
taken as Bacon or Oxford.
Besides snobbery, one other quality characterizes the authorship contro- ➤ about this edition
versy: lack of evidence. A great deal of testimony from Shakespeare’s time ➤ help & tips
shows that Shakespeare wrote Shakespeare’s plays and that his contempo-
➤ exit
raries recognized them as distinctive and distinctly superior. (Some of that
contemporary evidence is collected in E.K. Chambers, William Shakespeare:
A Study of Facts and Problems, 2 vols. [Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1930].)
Since that testimony comes from Shakespeare’s enemies and theatrical com-
petitors as well as from his co-workers and from the Elizabethan equivalent
of literary journalists, it seems unlikely that, if any one of these sources had
known he was a fraud, they would have failed to record that fact.
William Shakespeare
books a bou t sh a k espe a r e’s the ater
Useful scholarly studies of theatrical life in Shakespeare’s day include: G.E. O
Bentley, The Jacobean and Caroline Stage, 7 vols. (Oxford: The Clarendon ➤ about this book
Press, 1941–68), and the same author’s The Professions of Dramatist and
➤ Text as Icon
Player in Shakespeare’s Time, 1590–1642 (Princeton: Princeton University
Press, 1986); E.K. Chambers, The Elizabethan Stage, 4 vols. (Oxford: The
Clarendon Press, 1923); R.A. Foakes, Illustrations of the English Stage, ➤ The First Folio
1580–1642 (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 1985); Andrew Gurr, The ➤ Print About this book…
Shakespearean Stage, 1574–1642, 3rd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1992), and the same author’s Play-going in Shakespeare’s London, 2nd
➤ book contents
ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996); Edwin Nungezer, A
Dictionary of Actors (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1929); Carol Chil- ➤ advanced features
lington Rutter, ed., Documents of the Rose Playhouse, rev. ed. (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 1999).
➤ help & tips
books a bou t sh a k espe a r e’s l ife
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The following books provide scholarly, documented accounts of Shake-
speare’s life: G.E. Bentley, Shakespeare: A Biographical Handbook (New
Haven: Yale University Press, 1961); E.K. Chambers, William Shakespeare:
A Study of Facts and Problems, 2 vols. (Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1930);
Park Honan, Shakespeare: A Life (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998); S.
Schoenbaum, William Shakespeare: A Compact Documentary Life (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1977); and Shakespeare’s Lives, 2nd ed. (Oxford:
The Clarendon Press, 1991), by the same author. Many scholarly editions
of Shakespeare’s complete works print brief compilations of essential dates
William Shakespeare
and events. References to Shakespeare’s works up to 1700 are collected in
C.M. Ingleby et al., The Shakspere Allusion-Book, rev. ed., 2 vols. (Oxford: O
Oxford University Press, 1932).
➤ about this book
The Texts of Shakespeare ➤ Text as Icon
As far as we know, only one manuscript conceivably in Shakespeare’s own ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
hand may (and even this is much disputed) exist: a few pages of a play ➤ The First Folio
called Sir Thomas More, which apparently was never performed. What we
do have, as later readers, performers, scholars, students, are printed texts.
The earliest of these survive in two forms: quartos and folios. Quartos (from
the Latin for “four”) are small books, printed on sheets of paper that were ➤ book contents
then folded in fours, to make eight double-sided pages. When these were ➤ advanced features
bound together, the result was a squarish, eminently portable volume that
sold for the relatively small sum of sixpence (translating in modern terms ➤ about this edition
to about $5.00). In folios, on the other hand, the sheets are folded only ➤ help & tips
once, in half, producing large, impressive volumes taller than they are wide.
➤ exit
This was the format for important works of philosophy, science, theology,
and literature (the major precedent for a folio Shakespeare was Ben Jonson’s
Workes, 1616). The decision to print the works of a popular playwright
in folio is an indication of how far up on the social scale the theatrical
profession had come during Shakespeare’s lifetime. The Shakespeare folio
was an expensive book, selling for between fifteen and eighteen shillings,
depending on the binding (in modern terms, from about $150 to $180).
Nineteen Shakespeare plays of the thirty-seven that survive first appeared
in quarto (including Pericles, which does not appear in the First Folio),
William Shakespeare
seventeen of which appeared during Shakespeare’s lifetime; the rest of the
plays are found only in folio. O
The First Folio was published in 1623, seven years after Shakespeare’s
➤ about this book
death, and was authorized by his fellow actors, the co-owners of the King’s
➤ Text as Icon
Men. This publication was certainly a mark of the company’s enormous
respect for Shakespeare; but it was also a way of turning the old plays, most ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
of which were no longer current in the playhouse, into ready money (the ➤ The First Folio
folio includes only Shakespeare’s plays, not his sonnets or other nondramatic
verse). Whatever the motives behind the publication of the folio, the texts it
preserves constitute the basis for almost all later editions of the playwright’s
works. The texts, however, differ from those of the earlier quartos, some- ➤ book contents
times in minor respects but often significantly—most strikingly in the two ➤ advanced features
texts of King Lear, but also in important ways in Hamlet, Othello, and Troilus
and Cressida. The differences in these texts represent, in a sense, the essence ➤ about this edition
of theater: the texts of plays were initially not intended for publication. They ➤ help & tips
were scripts, designed for the actors to perform—the principal life of the
➤ exit
play at this period was in performance. And it follows that in Shakespeare’s
theater the playwright typically had no say either in how his play was
performed or in the disposition of his text—he was an employee of the
company. The authoritative figures in the theatrical enterprise were the
shareholders in the company, who were for the most part the major actors.
They decided what plays were to be done; they hired the playwright and
often gave him an outline of the play they wanted him to write. Often, too,
the play was a collaboration: the company would retain a group of writers,
and parcel out the scenes among them. The resulting script was then the
William Shakespeare
property of the company, and the actors would revise it as they saw fit during
the course of putting it on stage. The resulting text belonged to the company. O
The playwright had no rights in it once he had been paid. (This system
➤ about this book
survives largely intact in the movie industry, and most of the playwrights of
➤ Text as Icon
Shakespeare’s time were as anonymous as most screenwriters are today.) The
script could also, of course, continue to change as the tastes of audiences and ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
the requirements of the actors changed. Many—perhaps most—plays were ➤ The First Folio
revised when they were reintroduced after any substantial absence from the
repertory, or when they were performed by a company different from the one
that originally commissioned the play.
Shakespeare was an exceptional figure in this world because he was ➤ book contents
not only a shareholder and actor in his own company, but also its leading ➤ advanced features
playwright—he was literally his own boss. He had, moreover, little interest
in the publication of his plays, and even those that appeared during his ➤ about this edition
lifetime with the authorization of the company show no signs of any edito- ➤ help & tips
rial concern on the part of the author. Theater was, for Shakespeare, a fluid
➤ exit
and supremely responsive medium—the very opposite of the great classic
canonical text that has embodied his works since 1623.
The very fluidity of the original texts, however, has meant that Shake-
speare has always had to be edited. Here is an example of how problematic
the editorial project inevitably is, a passage from the most famous speech
in Romeo and Juliet, Juliet’s balcony soliloquy beginning “O Romeo, Romeo,
wherefore art thou Romeo?” Since the eighteenth century, the standard
modern text has read,
William Shakespeare
What’s Montague? It is nor hand, nor foot,
Nor arm, nor face, nor any other part
Belonging to a man. O be some other name!
O
What’s in a name? That which we call a rose ➤ about this book
By any other name would smell as sweet. (II.2.40–44) ➤ Text as Icon
Editors have three early texts of this play to work from, two quarto ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
texts and the folio. Here is how the First Quarto (1597) reads: ➤ The First Folio
➤ book contents
Here is the Second Quarto (1599): ➤ advanced features

➤ help & tips
➤ exit
And here is the First Folio (1623):
There is in fact no early text that reads as our modern text does—and
this is the most famous speech in the play. Instead, we have three quite
different texts, all of which are clearly some version of the same speech, but
none of which seems to us a final or satisfactory version. The transcendently
beautiful passage in modern editions is an editorial invention: editors have
William Shakespeare
succeeded in conflating and revising the three versions into something we
recognize as great poetry. Is this what Shakespeare “really” wrote? Who can O
say? What we can say is that Shakespeare always had performance, not a
➤ about this book
book, in mind.
➤ Text as Icon
books a bou t the sh a k espe a r e te x ts ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
The standard study of the printing history of the First Folio is W.W. Greg, ➤ The First Folio
The Shakespeare First Folio, Its Bibliographical and Textual History (Oxford:
The Clarendon Press, 1955). J.K. Walton, The Quarto Copy for the First Folio
of Shakespeare (Dublin: Dublin University Press, 1971), is a useful survey
of the relation of the quartos to the folio. The second edition of Charlton ➤ book contents
Hinman’s Norton Facsimile of the First Folio (New York: W.W. Norton, ➤ advanced features
1996), with a new introduction by Peter W.M. Blayney, is indispensable.
Stanley Wells and Gary Taylor, William Shakespeare: A Textual Companion ➤ about this edition
(Oxford: The Clarendon Press, 1987), keyed to the Oxford text, gives a ➤ help & tips
comprehensive survey of the editorial situation for all the plays and poems.
➤ exit
See also: Russ McDonald, “What Is Your Text?” in The Bedford Companion
to Shakespeare (Boston: St. Martin’s Press, 1996); Peter W.M. Blayney, “The
Publication of Playbooks,” in John D. Cox and David Scott Kastan, eds.,
A New History of Early English Drama (New York: Columbia University
Press, 1997).
William Shakespeare
Stephen Orgel is the Jackson Eli Reynolds Professor of Humanities in the
English Department at Stanford University. He has published widely on the O
political and historical aspects of Renaissance literature, theater, and art history.
An editor of Ben Jonson’s masques, the poetry of Christopher Marlowe and John ➤ about this book
Milton, and of The Tempest and The Winter’s Tale in the Oxford Shakespeare, ➤ Text as Icon
Professor Orgel is also a General Editor of the Pelican Shakespeare, and co-editor,
with Sean Keilen, of the series Shakespeare: The Critical Complex (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1999). ➤ The First Folio
A.R. Braunmuller is Professor of English at the University of California, Los ➤ Print About this book…
Angeles, where he has received the Distinguished Teaching Award and the Gold ➤ bibliographical items
Shield Award for Faculty Excellence. Professor Braunmuller has written numerous
➤ book contents
books and articles about sixteenth- and seventeenth-century literature, and he
currently serves as a General Editor of the Pelican Shakespeare. ➤ advanced features

➤ help & tips
➤ exit
William Shakespeare
The First Folio of Shakespeare O
Pe t er W. M . B l ay ne y ➤ about this book
➤ Text as Icon
Presented here is a digital facsimile of a booklet
originally published in print by the Folger Shake- ➤ Shakespeare, Stage, & Book
speare Library. It includes a detailed discussion ➤ The First Folio
of the printing and publishing of the First Folio,
differences in surviving copies, and the assembly
and importance of the Folger collection. Peter
W.M. Blayney is the author of several books and ➤ book contents
articles on the London book trade in the age ➤ advanced features
of Shakespeare, including The Bookshops in Paul’s
Cross Churchyard (1990); and a new introduction ➤ about this edition
to the Norton Facsimile of the First Folio, 2nd ➤ help & tips
edition (1996). He is currently working on a his-
➤ exit
tory of the Stationers’ Company through 1616.
This facsimile has been formatted to print in two-page spreads on
tabloid-size paper to simulate the original printed booklet, and can be
reduced for printing onto letter-size paper. The text is indexed and search-
able using the standard Adobe Acrobat interface.
➤ View, print, and search this booklet…

Click here to open this document in the standard Adobe Acrobat
interface, which you can use to view on screen, print, and search.
William Shakespeare
➤ page 35 of 35 f ol ger sh a k e spe a r e l ibr a ry
Bibliographical Items O
➤ about this book
Binding and Collation
➤ Binding & Collation
A detailed, authoritative bibliographic description of the binding and
➤ Provenance
pagination of this copy of the First Folio.
➤ Selection & Condition
➤ Read “Binding and Collation” now…
➤ Transcription Note
Provenance ➤ Print About this book…
An illustrated essay on the colorful history of the Daniel–Burdett- ➤ book contents
Coutts First Folio up to its acquisition by Henry Clay Folger. ➤ advanced features
➤ Read “Provenance” now…
➤ help & tips
Selection and Condition
➤ exit
An overview of the selection criteria for choosing a copy of the First
Folio from the Folger Shakespeare Library to be imaged.
➤ Read “Selection and Condition” now…
Transcription Note
List of typesetting conventions used in creating the searchable elec-
tronic “live text” of the First Folio, illustrated with examples.
➤ Read “Transcription Note” now…
William Shakespeare
Binding and Collation O
➤ about this book
Late eighteenth-century full russia, lightly diced, sides with
outer gilt roll-tooled border and floral tools at inner angles,
spine gilt in six decorated and three lettered compartments ➤ Binding & Collation
with gilt-tooled bands, the six compartments each with a com- ➤ Provenance
plex ornament composed of an urn in a medallion centered on
a narrow worked bar, surmounted by a rosette with trailing
foliage, and supporting a descending palmetto and beadwork
swag, corners with roundel and festoon of beadwork with ➤ Print About this book…
foliating ends. Gilt-lettered LONDON in a shallow compart- ➤ book contents
ment at head of spine, similarly at foot MDCXXIII, SHAKE-
SPEARE on a black skiver label beneath the first of the six
decorated compartments. ➤ about this edition
As early as 1864 the binding was attributed to John
➤ help & tips
Baumgarten, one of a group of German binders whose arrival
➤ exit
in London around the turn of the nineteenth century raised
the standards of luxury binding work. Baumgarten’s tools
were also used by other binders, so attributing work directly to
him is exceedingly hazardous; the research necessary to assign
this binding as Baumgarten’s has yet to be done.
Measurements
13³⁄₄ x 8³⁄₄ inches (350 x 222 mm).
Textblock: 13¹⁄₃₂ x 8³⁄₁₆ inches (332 x 211 mm).
William Shakespeare
Collation
2°: πA6 (πA1+1, πA5+1.2); A–2B6 2C2 ; a–g6 χ2g 8 h–v6 x 4 ; “gg3.4” O
(±“gg3”); ¶–2¶ 6 3¶1 2a–2f 6 2g2 “Gg” 6 2h6 2k-3b 6 [$3 (–2C2, + χ2g4, ➤ about this book
– x3, –+“gg3”, –2O2) signed; some missignings]; [18], 303, [1], 46, 49–100,
[2], 69-232, [2], 79–80, [26], 98, [2], 109–156, 257–399, [1] pages (399
misnumbered ‘993’; numerous other mispaginations throughout); in all, 454
leaves including title page with engraved portrait of Shakespeare. In this ➤ Provenance
copy leaves πA5+1.2 are misbound after leaf πA6, and leaves T3, T4, and b2 ➤ Selection & Condition
are supplied from another copy or copies.
Accompanying the book are six handwritten pieces pertaining to its
history, one of which is written on the front flyleaf of the work; the whole
is housed in a Victorian casket (see the Provenance for more information ➤ book contents
and to view these items). ➤ advanced features
➤ Read “Gatherings, Catchwords, Signatures, and Collation” online… ➤ about this edition
Click here to view this article at the Octavo web site. ➤ help & tips
➤ exit
William Shakespeare
Provenance O
➤ about this book
With the apotheosis of Shakespeare as the great British Bard on the mid-
eighteenth-century stage, and the establishment of the First Folio as the
only proper copy-text by the playwright’s editors, literary reverence had ➤ Binding & Collation
found not only its saint but its shrine. It was left to the early nineteenth ➤ Provenance
century to refine the reverence for that one essential edition to the apprecia-
tion of special copies of the book.
As expected, ownership of this
particular copy cannot be traced to ➤ Print About this book…
an era before the connoisseurship ➤ book contents
of the exemplar. No First Folio
survives complete and unaltered in
a contemporary binding; very few ➤ about this edition
have their endpapers intact, record-
➤ help & tips
ing previous ownership. The Bur-
➤ exit
dett-Coutts copy was rebound in
the late eighteenth century, obliterat-
ing all trace of earlier provenance
therein. As the veteran bookseller
F.S. Ellis, agent for the British
Museum and one of the four
leading dealers in the book in his
day, noted in Bernard Quaritch’s
Contributions towards a Dictionary Fig. 1. Angela Burdett-Coutts.
William Shakespeare
of English Book Collectors (London,
1892–1921), “Though, as is usual with O
books, its pedigree did not extend
➤ about this book
very far, it was less plebeian than
most rare volumes in this respect.” Its
earliest recorded owner was Daniel ➤ Binding & Collation
Moore (1760–1828), who is reported ➤ Provenance
to have acquired the book around Fig. 2. Note in Rokewode’s hand on his inheritance of this copy.
1795. Moore bequeathed his copy to William Henry Booth (1787 –1837), who
left it in turn to the Suffolk antiquary John Gage (1786–1842)—after 1838,
John Gage Rokewode (see Rokewode’s note, Fig. 2). Like the actor David ➤ Print About this book…
Garrick (1717 –79), the great reviver of Shakespeare’s fame and a notable ➤ book contents
collector of old plays, all three men were members of Lincoln’s Inn, one of
London’s four (legal) Inns of Court.
Both Moore and Rokewode were Fellows of the Royal Society, and from ➤ about this edition
1829 until his death the latter was the Director of the Society of Antiquaries.
➤ help & tips
Rokewode’s most important papers on British antiquities, especially on medi-
➤ exit
eval liturgical manuscripts, appeared in the antiquaries’ journal, Archaeologia.
After his death, part of the library of this “man of courtesy, kindness and
good learning” was sold at auction in December of 1848, but the First Folio
that he had inherited in 1837 was no longer present: Rokewode had sold it, in
1841, to the bookseller and publisher William Pickering.
The Moore-Booth-Rokewode copy was already celebrated. The Rever-
end Thomas Frognall Dibdin, an enthusiastic promoter of bibliomania in
Regency England, praised the copy in his Library Companion (1824) while it
was still in Moore’s hands—a contemporary transcription of the relevant pas-
William Shakespeare
sage is preserved with the book: see
Fig. 3. Dibdin printed the first halting O
attempt at a list of copies of the First
➤ about this book
Folio, giving details of twenty-six
(and mentioning fourteen others by
reputation only). He placed Moore’s ➤ Binding & Collation
copy in the “First class” (of perfect ➤ Provenance
specimens) along with just two
others, the Cracherode and Grenville
copies (the latter two are now in
the British Library, but the Crach- ➤ Print About this book…
erode copy is in fact incomplete, lack- ➤ book contents
ing two leaves). Not until our copy
entered the library of George Daniel
did it rise from its position as primus ➤ about this edition
inter pares to become, by general repu- Fig. 3. Contemporary transcription of Thomas Frognall
Dibdin’s praise of this Folio. ➤ help & tips
tation, the finest copy of all.
➤ exit
George Daniel was one of the many notable book collectors who have
been accountants; he was also a man of letters, several of whose books
were published in handsome little duodecimos by William Pickering. It was
through his publisher that Daniel acquired the Moore-Booth-Rokewode
copy in 1841. (Pickering’s letter, dated January 29, 1841, expressing his “great
pleasure in adding this fine copy of the first Shakespeare to your Library,”
was carefully preserved and is reproduced in Fig. 4. Daniel’s long note
about the purchase and the exceptional merits of this copy is inscribed
on one of the book’s front endpapers.) Daniel was a convivial and quintessen-
William Shakespeare
tially urban versifier: among his most
characteristic writings were Virgil O
in London (1814) and Democritus in
➤ about this book
London (1852). His copy of the First
Folio was also, appropriately, a met-
ropolitan book, having moved about ➤ Binding & Collation
town, from one London collector to ➤ Provenance
another, until transported to its per-
manent American home. In this it
stands in contrast to many another
copy of the First Folio, slumbering ➤ Print About this book…
in an old country house library until ➤ book contents
beckoned forth by the allure of the
market in the late nineteenth or early
twentieth century. ➤ about this edition
Like many collectors, Daniel
➤ help & tips
was not averse to boasting of his pur- Fig. 4. William Pickering’s 1841 letter transmitting the
Folio to George Daniel. ➤ exit
chases. “He would describe,” wrote
Ellis, “how when the bargain was concluded Pickering essayed to put up the
volume in paper, but he exclaimed, ‘No, no! nothing less than silk! fetch me
one of your best silk handkerchiefs.’ Securely tied in this, a hackney coach
was called and he drove home to Islington in triumph.” Such a tale, repeated
and polished in the telling for over twenty years by an inveterate diner-out,
succeeded in creating a legend.
Daniel had many other choice books, especially in old English lit-
erature, with a multitude of finely bound and extra-illustrated volumes,
William Shakespeare
O
➤ about this book
➤ Provenance

➤ book contents

Fig. 5. First Folio entry from Sotheby’s catalogue for the sale of the Daniel library. The catalogue ➤ help & tips
belonged to the Victorian antiquary and book collector Frederick William Cosens (1819–89) and is
annotated in a contemporary hand. ➤ exit
Elizabethan jest-books, drolleries, garlands, and ballads. When the books

were sold by Sotheby’s in 1864 as “the most valuable, interesting and highly
important library of the late George Daniel,” the cataloguer exhausted
himself in superlatives, for the collector owned not only the finest First Folio
but copies of the other three, and eighteen of the far rarer quarto plays.
Daniel’s First Folio was sold for the then-extraordinary price of 682
guineas (or £716 2s.) to “Radcliffe,” acting as agent for Angela Georgina
William Shakespeare
Burdett-Coutts (1814–1906), the wealthiest unmarried woman in England,
and a philanthropist of astonishing scale and range. She had a great interest O
in Shakespeare and the stage, having inherited the vast fortune of her grand-
➤ about this book
father, the banker Thomas Coutts (1735–1822), through Coutts’ second wife,
a celebrated actress. The price stood as a record until 1899, by which time the
flourishing transatlantic market for the book prompted ever-higher prices as ➤ Binding & Collation
private British libraries yielded up their copies to American industrialists. ➤ Provenance
Until the Daniel sale, most serious scholars and editors of Shakespeare
had been able to afford a copy of the First Folio for their work. After 1864,
the price became prohibitive for private study—although facsimiles were
now available. H.H. Furness, the Philadelphia editor of the New Variorum ➤ Print About this book…
edition, was perhaps the last editor to own and use a First Folio. The Daniel ➤ book contents
auction was the most influential Shakespeare sale of the nineteenth century,
raising prices decisively and permanently. It also established the auction
rooms (and Sotheby’s in particular) as the arbiters of price. ➤ about this edition
Individual copies in the nineteenth century had a bibliophilic following;
➤ help & tips
by the turn of the century they had begun to acquire a more serious
➤ exit
bibliographical appreciation. Sidney Lee, co-editor of the (British) Diction-
ary of National Biography and the leading Shakespeare biographer of his
time, compiled a census of individual copies, which was published in 1902.
A census remains to this day a rare form of bibliographical tribute—only
Gutenberg’s Bible (in 1888) had been so comprehensively studied before
Lee. Although W.W. Greg, A.W. Pollard, and their successors were to
undermine much of his strictly bibliographical reputation, Lee nonetheless
provided a canonizing list, and firmly set the course of First Folio scholar-
ship on the basis of the study of individual copies.
William Shakespeare
O
➤ about this book
➤ Provenance

➤ book contents
Fig. 6. Letters concerning the Folio’s condition and casket.
Miss Burdett-Coutts was raised to the peerage in 1871, becoming Baron- ➤ about this edition
ess Burdett-Coutts, and ten years later married William Lehman Ashmead-
➤ help & tips
Bartlett (1851–1921), a young American who had assisted in several of her
➤ exit
philanthropic projects. He assumed the surname Burdett-Coutts, retaining
the First Folio after her death. The Moore–Booth–Rokewode–Daniel–Bur-
dett-Coutts copy did not reappear on the market until after his death, when
Sotheby’s offered it once again, along with other treasures from his estate,
on May 15, 1922.
By this time Daniel’s copy had acquired a reliquary for its protection.
Herne’s Oak, celebrated in The Merry Wives of Windsor, fell down in August
1863, and in congratulating Miss Burdett-Coutts on her purchase, Queen Vic-
toria offered a piece of the tree—see Fig.6. Daniel would have applauded the
William Shakespeare
use that the future Baroness made
of it. In 1835 he had bought for 47 O
guineas the carved casket made from
➤ about this book
the mulberry tree in Shakespeare’s
garden that had been presented to
David Garrick along with the free- ➤ Binding & Collation
dom of the Borough of Stratford-on- ➤ Provenance
Avon in 1769. Daniel left the object to
the British Museum on his death.
The Herne’s Oak casket is a
superb specimen of High Victorian ➤ Print About this book…
Fig. 7. Allusion to Herne’s Oak from Act IV of The Merry
artistry (see Fig. 8). Ever since Wives of Windsor. ➤ book contents
Horace Walpole’s acquisition of “Queen Anne’s Comb” and Sir Walter
Scott’s baronial accumulations at Abbotsford, the British had collected
antiques—but as historical relics rather than as testimony to past taste. ➤ about this edition
Herne’s Oak was intended to provide an evocative repository, within the
➤ help & tips
tradition represented by copies of Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress in bindings
➤ exit
fashioned from beams of the Bedford meetinghouse, or William Everson’s
fine-press edition of Robinson Jeffers’ Granite and Cypress (1975), presented
to the reader in an elegant piece of desktop sculpture made from the
materials of the title. Books are, amongst much else, articles of furniture,
and often have a better chance of survival and appreciation if suitably
camouflaged.
It was thus perhaps fitting that when the Burdett-Coutts copy came
up for sale at Sotheby’s, A.S.W. Rosenbach, the greatest showman in the
history of the book trade, for once sent his brother Philip, a specialist
William Shakespeare
in antiques, to London to bid. The
Philadelphia firm bought the book O
for a record-breaking £ 8,600. To
➤ about this book
commemorate the event, Punch pub-
lished a cartoon depicting Uncle
Sam with Gainsborough’s “Blue Boy” ➤ Binding & Collation
and the Burdett-Coutts copy under ➤ Provenance
his arms, gazing with acquisitive eye
on Shakespeare’s tombstone, with its
curse on anyone who disturbs his
Fig. 8. The ornamental casket housing the Burdett-Coutts
bones. The ghost of Shakespeare First Folio; it measures 9¹⁄₈ x 22 x 14⁷⁄₈ inches and opens ➤ Print About this book…
looks on nervously. from the front. ➤ book contents
The Rosenbachs had bought the book for Henry Clay Folger
(1857 –1930), who had been buying First Folios since 1893. Although he
already owned more copies than anyone else did, to Folger each one ➤ about this edition
was importantly different. How very different only became fully apparent
➤ help & tips
with the publication of Charlton Hinman’s two-volume study, The Printing
➤ exit
and Proof-reading of the First Folio of Shakespeare (Oxford, 1963), based on
careful collation of the seventy-nine Folger copies, some two-thirds of them
throughout. By then, the Folger collection, amounting to roughly one-third
of the extant copies, formed part of the collector’s memorial, the Folger
Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C.
One virtue of such a large assemblage is that there is no single Folger
copy: individual copies retain their individuality. The copy reproduced here
is therefore still widely known as the Burdett-Coutts copy, or, more justly,
the Daniel–Burdett-Coutts copy. the editor s
William Shakespeare
Selection and Condition O
➤ about this book
When the Folger Library received Octavo’s invitation to provide a copy
of the 1623 First Folio edition of Shakespeare’s plays for digitization, we
welcomed this new opportunity to serve the scholarly community while also ➤ Binding & Collation
providing access to other readers. Our curators and conservation staff saw ➤ Provenance
the project as a preservation and access initiative that was innovative in its
execution through digitization but classic in essence. A preservation project
that would reduce the handling of one of the great treasures of the library,
it doubled as a bold move to extend the Folger’s reach to an audience that ➤ Print About this book…
would otherwise not have unlimited access to such material. Further, the ➤ book contents
project would adhere to the highest standards and would be conducted
under conditions that would assure the proper handling of the original.
The resulting product would be distributed at a relatively modest price and ➤ about this edition
would be accompanied by appropriate documentation.
➤ help & tips
The Folger Library holds seventy-nine copies of the First Folio and
➤ exit
numerous fragments, some of substantial completeness. How, given the
unique holdings of the library, roughly one-third of the surviving copies
of the First Folio copies, could we select one example for the undertaking
with Octavo? Each copy of Shakespeare’s First Folio has had a life of its
own during the nearly 400 years since it was printed, serving variously as a
locus of scholarly research, as a revered object of collectors’ desires, and as a
commodity in the auction and bookselling marketplaces. Copies have been
reconstructed, rebound, and, of course, subject to the wear and tear of time.
To choose a copy that represented the intentions of the original publishers
William Shakespeare
while accommodating the potential of the digital medium, the following
criteria had to be met: O
Normalcy. A copy of the First Folio in the form in which it ordinarily ➤ about this book
was sold to the public when new—the “third issue.” The typesetting and ➤ bibliographical items
printing of one of the component plays of the First Folio, Troilus and
Cressida, were undertaken at different times during the production of the
➤ Provenance
book. The result was that before the First Folio was sold containing the
complete Troilus and Cressida, a few copies (very few) were sold without the ➤ Selection & Condition
play and then a few copies (again, very few) were sold containing the play ➤ Transcription Note
but minus its Prologue. Thus, when the First Folio was sold with Troilus and
Cressida complete with its Prologue—the form in which the vast majority
➤ book contents
of copies were sold—the book was in its third form, what bibliographers
call the “third issue.” ➤ advanced features
Completeness. All component parts present, from Ben Jonson’s verses facing ➤ about this edition
the title page to the last page with its decoration and publishers’ names—
➤ help & tips
despite the wear and tear of time.
➤ exit
Integrity. The component parts genuine, not facsimiles or parts taken from
later editions. Because of the scholarly and monetary value attached to the
First Folio, many copies have been reconstructed using parts not original
to the 1623 edition.
Order. Component parts assembled in proper order. The binding and

rebinding of copies have inevitably introduced a potential for disordering
the parts of the book.
William Shakespeare
Condition. Text pages clean, uninjured by use or accident, and free of
intrusive annotation. Reading (or thumbing) has damaged copies of the O
First Folio; as the embodiment of the most studied text in English literature,
➤ about this book
readers frequently annotated their copies.
Strength and flexibility. Able to withstand handling. Although the materials
used to make books in the seventeenth century were durable, the paper and
➤ Provenance
binding of books of this age are potentially delicate. So all of the text on
each page could be imaged, the book chosen for the Octavo Edition would ➤ Selection & Condition
have to be opened at every point; it was therefore important to have a copy ➤ Transcription Note
that could be handled without the likelihood of damage.
One copy in the Folger collection scored above all the others according ➤ book contents
to these criteria—No. 5, that formerly owned by the fastidious English
collector George Daniel and later owned by the Baroness Angela Georgina
Burdett-Coutts. The Daniel–Burdett-Coutts copy is renowned for its fine ➤ about this edition
condition. Its blemishes are few: only two leaves are misbound; three leaves
➤ help & tips
are genuine but supplied from another copy; and fewer than a dozen leaves
➤ exit
have holes, burn spots, or foxing that affect the text to any degree. No other
copy of the First Folio is in equally fine condition. The excellence of this
copy, along with its well-documented history, made it the best candidate
for digitization.
Donald Farren
Folger Shakespeare Library
William Shakespeare
Transcription Note O
➤ about this book
The “live text” in this Octavo Digital Edition is a keyboarded transcription
of the text from the book images: it is fully searchable, and text can be copied
and pasted into other applications. To allow compatibility across computer ➤ Binding & Collation
platforms, the transcription is set in ASCII (American Standard Code for ➤ Provenance
Information Interchange). Since the ASCII character set does not contain
equivalents for some characters (ligatures, abbreviations, etc.) found in the
First Folio (which also contains irreproducible typesetting irregularities, such
as inverted letters), the following conventions have been followed in creating ➤ Print About this book…
the live text transcription. (For an informative discussion of the printing ➤ book contents
of the First Folio, see Peter W.M. Blayney’s monograph The First Folio of
Shakespeare, included in the “About This Book” section of this edition.)
The original text is followed as closely as possible: typos, misprints, and all.
➤ help & tips
[**ILLUSTRATION 1 (329, Col. 1, line 3)] ➤ exit
From whence at first she wegih’d her Anchorage:
Capitalization and italicization (including punctuation) are mimicked.
[**ILLUSTRATION 2 (217, Col. 1, line 60)]
King. Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?
William Shakespeare
Initial display capitals are set as roman capitals. Period conventions for
certain letters (such as u for v and i for j) are retained. O
[**ILLUSTRATION 3 (328, Col. 1, lines 1–4)] ➤ about this book
➤ Provenance
NOble Patricians, Patrons of my right,
Defend the iustice of my Cause with Armes.
And Countrey-men, my louing Followers,
Pleade my Successiue Title with your Swords. ➤ Print About this book…
➤ book contents
The long s is set as a modern s.
[**ILLUSTRATION 3A (107, Col. 2, line 1)]
Cel. I pray thee Rosalind, sweet my Coz, be merry.
➤ help & tips
➤ exit
Abbreviations are expanded (except in the case of titles, such as M. for
“Monsieur” and K. for “King,” etc.). Abbreviated character names at the
beginning of lines and in stage directions are set to match.
Alo. Giue vs kind keepers, heavens: what were these?
William Shakespeare
Contractions, however, are retained.

O
➤ about this book
Like the poore Cat i’th’Addage.
Upside-down characters are righted. ➤ Binding & Collation
➤ Provenance
Not knowing why.
Long rules in text are set as 2-em dashes. ➤ Print About this book…
[**ILLUSTRATION 7 (314, Col. 1, line 22)] ➤ book contents

In this our Fabricke, if that they——
Words are uniformly single-spaced.
➤ help & tips
[**ILLUSTRATION 8 (154, Col. 2, line 14 from bottom)] ➤ exit
Pol. How, dare not? doe not? doe you know, and dare not?
Spaces before punctuation marks are closed up.
The fields are neere, and you are gallant Groomes:
William Shakespeare
Book Contents O
➤ about this book
[Frontmatter] 6
➤ book contents
Comedies
➤ Detailed contents
The Tempest. 14
➤ Thumbnails
The Two Gentlemen of Verona. 24
The Merry Wiues of Windsor. 33
Measvre, For Measure. 44
The Comedie of Errors. 56
➤ help & tips
Much adoe about Nothing. 64
Loues Labour’s lost. 75 ➤ exit
A Midsommer Nights Dreame. 86

The Merchant of Venice. 95
As you Like it. 106
The Taming of the Shrew. 118
All’s Well, that Ends Well. 129
Twelfe Night, Or what you will. 141
The Winters Tale. 152
Histories
The life and death of King Iohn. 166
The life and death of King Richard the Second. 177
The First Part of Henry the Fourth 189
William Shakespeare
The Second Part of Henry the Fourth 202
The Life of Henry the Fift. 216 O
The first Part of Henry the Sixt. 230
➤ about this book
The second Part of Henry the Sixt 242
The third Part of Henry the Sixt 255
The Tragedy of Richard the Third 268 ➤ book contents
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight. 284 ➤ Detailed contents
➤ Thumbnails
Tragedies
The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida. 298
The Tragedy of Coriolanus. 313
The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. 328
➤ help & tips
The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet. 339
The Life of Tymon of Athens. 352 ➤ exit
The Tragedie of Ivlivs Caesar. 363

The Tragedie of Macbeth. 374
The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke. 385
The Tragedie of King Lear. 400
The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice. 414
The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra. 429
The Tragedie of Cymbeline. 443
William Shakespeare
Detailed Contents O
with Norton Through Line Numbers
➤ about this book
This list of contents, and the bookmarks for this Octavo Edition, preserve act
and scene divisions as indicated in the First Folio. These often do not match ➤ book contents
the critically established divisions found in modern editions of Shakespeare, ➤ Detailed contents
and in many cases are irregular and incomplete (see Peter W.M. Blayney’s
➤ Thumbnails
monograph on the printing of the First Folio in the “About This Book”
section for more information).
The “Through Line Numbers” as established by Charlton Hinman in The Norton ➤ about this edition
Facsimile: The First Folio of Shakespeare are copyright © 1968, 1996 by W.W.
➤ help & tips
Norton & Company, Inc., and are used in this edition with their permission.
➤ exit
Frontmatter
To the Reader. [Ben Jonson] 6
[Title page] 6
[Dedication] 7
To the great Variety of Readers. 8
To the memory of my beloued, The Avthor Mr. William Shakespeare: And
what he hath left vs. [Ben Jonson] 9
Vpon the Lines and Life of the Famous Scenicke Poet, Master William
Shakespeare [Hugh Holland] 10
A Catalogve of the seuerall Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies contained
in this Volume. 11
William Shakespeare
To the Memorie of the deceased Authour Maister W. Shakespeare.
[Leonard Digges] 12 O
To the memorie of M. W. Shake-speare. [“I.M.”] 12
➤ about this book
The Names of the Principall Actors in all these Playes. 13
Comedies ➤ book contents
The Tempest. 14 ➤ Detailed contents
Actus primus 14 Actus Tertius 19 ➤ Thumbnails
Scena prima 14 Scoena Prima 19
[1–79] 14 [1234–1256] 19
Scena Secunda 14 [1257 –1349] 19 ➤ about this edition
[80–87] 14 Scoena Secunda 19
➤ help & tips
[88–219] 15 [1350–1381] 19
➤ exit
[220–351] 15 [1382–1512] 20
[352–483] 16 Scena Tertia 20
[484–615] 16 [1513–1641] 20
[616–671] 17 [1642–1649] 21
Actus Secundus 17 Actus Quartus 21
Scoena Prima 17 Scena Prima 21
[672–742] 17 [1650–1769] 21
[743–874] 17 [1770–1901] 21
[875–1006] 18 [1902–1944] 22
[1007 –1036] 18 Actus quintus 22
Scoena Secunda 18 Scoena Prima 22
[1037 –1130] 18 [1945–2027] 22
[1131–1233] 19 [2028–2159] 22 William Shakespeare
[2160–2291] 23 Epilogve, spoken by Prospero 23
[2292–2319] 23 [2320–2341] 23 O
➤ about this book
The Two Gentlemen of Verona. 24
Actus primus 24 [855–870] 27
➤ book contents
Scena prima 24 Scena Quinta 27
[1–99] 24 [871–927] 27 ➤ Detailed contents
[100–151] 24 Scoena Sexta 27 ➤ Thumbnails
Scoena Secunda 24 [928–973] 27
[152–224] 24 Scoena septima 28
[225–299] 25 [974–1066] 28 ➤ about this edition
Scoena Tertia 25 Actus Tertius 28
➤ help & tips
[300–349] 25 Scena Prima 28
➤ exit
[350–394] 25 [1067 –1095] 28
Actus secundus 25 [1096–1225] 28
Scoena Prima 25 [1226–1357] 29
[395–475] 25 [1358–1443] 29
[476–565] 26 Scena Secunda 29
Scoena secunda 26 [1444–1483] 29
[566–590] 26 [1484–1542] 30
Scoena Tertia 26 Actus Quartus 30
[591–595] 26 Scoena Prima 30
[596–652] 26 [1543–1611] 30
Scena Quarta 26 [1612–1620] 30
[1735–1764] 31 [2024–2037] 32
Scoena Tertia 31 Scoena Secunda 32 O
[1765–1817] 31 [2038–2098] 32
➤ about this book
Scena Quarta 31 Scena Tertia 32
[1818–1852] 31 [2099–2101] 32
[1853–1984] 31 [2102–2116] 32 ➤ book contents
[1985–2023] 32 Scoena Quarta 32 ➤ Detailed contents
Actus Quintus 32 [2117 –2228] 32
➤ Thumbnails
Scoena Prima 32 [2229–2298] 33
The Merry Wiues of Windsor. 33
Actus primus 33 [551–602] 35
➤ help & tips
Scena prima 33 [603–734] 36
➤ exit
[1–99] 33 [735–768] 36
[232–285] 34 [769–859] 36
Scena Secunda 34 [860–990] 37
[286–298] 34 [991–1064] 37
Scena Tertia 34 Scena Tertia 37
[299–353] 34 [1065–1117] 37
[354–396] 35 [1118–1156] 38
Scoena Quarta 35 Actus Tertius 38
[397 –479] 35 Scoena Prima 38
[480–550] 35 [1157 –1243] 38
Actus Secundus 35 [1244–1267] 38
Scoena Prima 35 Scena Secunda 38 William Shakespeare
[1268–1349] 38 [2120–2130] 41
Scena Tertia 38 [2131–2216] 42 O
[1350–1367] 38 Scena Quinta 42
➤ about this book
[1368–1499] 39 [2217 –2256] 42
[1500–1565] 39 [2257 –2342] 42
Scoena Quarta 39 Scena Sexta 42 ➤ book contents
[1628–1677] 40 [2384–2399] 43
➤ Thumbnails
Scena Quinta 40 Actus Quintus 43
[1678–1754] 40 Scoena Prima 43
[1755–1820] 40 [2400–2429] 43
Actus Quartus 40 Scena Secunda 43
➤ help & tips
Scoena Prima 40 [2430–2445] 43
[1821–1882] 40 Scena Tertia 43 ➤ exit
[1883–1897] 41 [2446–2471] 43
Scena Secunda 41 Scena Quarta 43
[1898–2008] 41 [2472–2477] 43
[2009–2106] 41 Scena Quinta 43
Scena Tertia 41 [2478–2487] 43
[2107 –2119] 41 [2488–2617] 43
Scena Quarta 41 [2618–2729] 44
Measvre, For Measure. 44

Actus primus 44 Scena Secunda 45
Scena prima 44 [95–204] 45
[1–94] 44 Scena Tertia 45 William Shakespeare
[205–219] 45 [1636–1767] 51
[220–287] 45 Actus Quartus 51 O
Scena Quarta 45 Scoena Prima 51
➤ about this book
[288–346] 45 [1768–1854] 51
Scena Quinta 46 Scena Secunda 51
[347 –448] 46 [1855–1887] 51 ➤ book contents
Actus Secundus 46 [1888–2018] 52 ➤ Detailed contents
Scoena Prima 46 [2019–2075] 52
➤ Thumbnails
[449–468] 46 Scena Tertia 52
[469–600] 46 [2076–2145] 52
[601–730] 47 [2146–2270] 53
➤ help & tips
[731–858] 47 [2271–2273] 53
[859–950] 48 [2274–2305] 53 ➤ exit
Scena Tertia 48 Scena Quinta 53

[951–985] 48 [2306–2322] 53
[986–1000] 48 Scena Sexta 53
Scena Quarta 48 [2323–2344] 53
[1001–1112] 48 Actus Quintus 53
[1113–1201] 49 Scoena Prima 53
Actus Tertius 49 [2345–2390] 53
Scena Prima 49 [2391–2522] 54
[1202–1239] 49 [2523–2653] 54
[1240–1371] 49 [2654–2784] 55
[1372–1503] 50 [2785–2916] 55
[1504–1635] 50 [2917 –2938] 56
William Shakespeare
The Comedie of Errors. 56
Actus primus 56 Actus Quartus 60 O
Scena prima 56 Scoena Prima 60 ➤ about this book
[1–99] 56 [980–997] 60
[100–229] 57 [998–1127] 60
➤ book contents
[230–271] 57 [1128–1254] 61
[272–353] 57 [1382–1461] 62 ➤ Thumbnails
[354–485] 58 Actus Quintus 62
[486–615] 58 Scoena Prima 62
Actus Tertius 59 [1462–1503] 62 ➤ about this edition
Scena Prima 59 [1504–1630] 62
➤ help & tips
[616–742] 59 [1631–1760] 63
➤ exit
[743–874] 59 [1761–1888] 63
[875–979] 60 [1889–1919] 64
Much adoe about Nothing. 64

Actus primus 64 [618–748] 67
Scena prima 64 [749–878] 67
[1–99] 64 [879–1007] 68
[100–230] 65 [1008–1085] 68
[231–362] 65 Actus Tertius 68
[363–413] 66 [1086–1130] 68
Actus Secundus 66 [1131–1261] 69
[414–487] 66 [1262–1391] 69
[1524–1652] 70 Actus Quintus 72
[1653–1655] 71 [2077 –2167] 72 O
Actus Quartus 71 [2168–2297] 73
➤ about this book
[1656–1778] 71 [2298–2426] 73
[1779–1910] 71 [2427 –2552] 74
[1911–2041] 72 [2553–2684] 74 ➤ book contents
[2042–2076] 72 ➤ Detailed contents
➤ Thumbnails
Loues Labour’s lost. 75
Actus primus 75 [1242–1369] 80
[100–229] 75 [1497 –1627] 81
➤ help & tips
[230–360] 76 [1628–1737] 81
➤ exit
[361–488] 76 Actus Quartus 81
Actus Secunda 77 [1738–1753] 81
[489–610] 77 [1754–1884] 82
[611–740] 77 [1885–2014] 82
[741–768] 78 [2015–2144] 83
Actus Tertius 78 [2145–2273] 83
[769–865] 78 [2274–2405] 84
[866–971] 78 [2406–2529] 84
Actus Quartus 78 [2530–2657] 85
[972–989] 78 [2658–2787] 85
[990–1113] 79 [2788–2900] 86
[1114–1241] 79
William Shakespeare
A Midsommer Nights Dreame. 86
Actus primus 86 [1110–1237] 91 O
[1–87] 86 [1238–1369] 91 ➤ about this book
[88–218] 87 [1370–1500] 92
[219–347] 87 [1501–1507] 92
➤ book contents
[348–371] 88 Actus Quartus 92
[372–472] 88 [1621–1750] 93 ➤ Thumbnails
[473–602] 88 [1751–1790] 93
[603–727] 89 Actus Quintus 93
Actus Tertius 89 [1874–2002] 94
➤ help & tips
[812–850] 89 [2003–2129] 94
➤ exit
[851–981] 90 [2130–2222] 95
[982–1109] 90
The Merchant of Venice. 95

Actus primus 95 [735–861] 98
[1–94] 95 [862–982] 99
[95–224] 96 [983–1112] 99
[225–352] 96 [1113–1216] 100
[483–512] 97 [1217 –1234] 100
Actus Secundus 97 [1235–1365] 100
[513–604] 97 [1366–1492] 101
[1623–1750] 102 [2264–2394] 104
[1751–1879] 102 [2395–2401] 105 O
[1880–1900] 103 Actus Quintus 105
➤ about this book
Actus Quartus 103 [2402–2516] 105
[1901–2003] 103 [2517 –2646] 105
[2004–2131] 103 [2647 –2738] 106 ➤ book contents
[2132–2263] 104 ➤ Detailed contents
➤ Thumbnails
As you Like it. 106
Actus primus 106 Scena Tertia 109
Scoena Prima 106 [702–728] 109 ➤ about this edition
[1–102] 106 [729–780] 109
➤ help & tips
[103–168] 107 Scena Quarta 109
➤ exit
[169–228] 107 [853–887] 110
[229–357] 107 Scena Quinta 110
[358–457] 108 [888–948] 110
Scena Tertius 108 Scena Sexta 110
[458–482] 108 [949–970] 110
[483–603] 108 Scena Septima 110
Actus Secundus 108 [971–1096] 110
Scoena Prima 108 [1097 –1178] 111
[604–608] 108 Actus Tertius 111
[609–678] 109 Scena Prima 111
Scena Secunda 109 [1179–1198] 111
[679–701] 109 Scena Secunda 111 William Shakespeare
[1199–1212] 111 Scena Secunda 115
[1213–1342] 111 [2125–2145] 115 O
[1343–1472] 112 Scoena Tertia 115
➤ about this book
[1473–1604] 112 [2146–2226] 115
[1605–1612] 113 [2227 –2338] 115
Scoena Tertia 113 Actus Quintus 115 ➤ book contents
[1613–1707] 113 Scena Prima 115 ➤ Detailed contents
Scoena Quarta 113 [2339–2351] 115
➤ Thumbnails
[1708–1724] 113 [2352–2406] 116
[1725–1768] 113 Scoena Secunda 116
Scena Quinta 113 [2407 –2474] 116
[1769–1848] 113 [2475–2529] 116
➤ help & tips
[1849–1914] 114 Scoena Tertia 116
Actus Quartus 114 [2530–2571] 116 ➤ exit
Scena Prima 114 Scena Quarta 116

[1915–1975] 114 [2572–2593] 116
[1976–2107] 114 [2594–2723] 117
[2108–2124] 115 [2724–2796] 117
The Taming of the Shrew. 118

Actus primus 118 [487 –616] 120
Scoena Prima 118 [617 –747] 120
[1–96] 118 [748–877] 121
[97 –227] 118 [878–1007] 121
[228–354] 119 [1008–1139] 122
[1270–1293] 122 [1977 –2043] 125
Actus Tertia 123 [2044–2175] 126 O
[1294–1395] 123 [2176–2302] 126
➤ about this book
[1396–1526] 123 [2303–2431] 127
[1527 –1653] 124 [2432–2532] 127
[1654–1784] 124 Actus Quintus 127 ➤ book contents
[1917 –1976] 125 [2558–2688] 128
➤ Thumbnails
Actus Quartus 125 [2689–2750] 128
Scena Prima 125

All’s Well, that Ends Well. 129
➤ help & tips
Actus primus 129 [1250–1370] 134
➤ exit
Scoena Prima 129 Actus Tertius 134
[1–92] 129 [1371–1374] 134
[93–220] 129 [1375–1502] 134
[221–345] 130 [1503–1625] 135
[346–475] 130 [1626–1754] 135
[476–592] 131 [1755–1882] 136
Actus Secundus 131 [1883–1909] 136
[593–602] 131 Actus Quartus 136
[603–733] 131 [1910–2007] 136
[734–863] 132 [2008–2138] 137
[864–991] 132 [2139–2267] 137
[992–1123] 133 [2268–2398] 138
[2528–2591] 139 [2783–2913] 140
Actus Quintus 139 [2914–3043] 140 O
[2592–2654] 139 [3044–3078] 141
➤ about this book
[2655–2782] 139
Twelfe Night, Or what you will. 141 ➤ book contents
Actus Primus 141 [655–697] 144 ➤ Detailed contents
Scaena Prima 141 Scoena Tertia 144 ➤ Thumbnails
[1–48] 141 [698–724] 144
Scena Secunda 141 [725–856] 144
[49–93] 141 [857 –881] 145 ➤ about this edition
[94–116] 142 Scena Quarta 145
➤ help & tips
Scaena Tertia 142 [882–980] 145
➤ exit
[117 –220] 142 [981–1014] 145
[221–248] 142 Scena Quinta 145
Scena Quarta 142 [1015–1108] 145
[249–294] 142 [1109–1211] 146
Scena Quinta 142 Actus Tertius 146
[295–342] 142 Scaena prima 146
[343–474] 143 [1212–1234] 146
[475–606] 143 [1235–1366] 146
[607 –609] 144 [1367 –1379] 147
Actus Secundus 144 Scoena Secunda 147
Scaena prima 144 [1380–1464] 147
[610–654] 144 Scaena Tertia 147
Scaena Secunda 144 [1465–1484] 147 William Shakespeare
[1485–1519] 147 [1991–2112] 149
Scoena Quarta 147 Scaena Tertia 149 O
[1520–1606] 147 [2113–2117] 149
➤ about this book
[1607 –1737] 148 [2118–2151] 150
[1738–1869] 148 Actus Quintus 150
[1870–1916] 149 Scena Prima 150 ➤ book contents
Actus Quartus 149 [2152–2240] 150 ➤ Detailed contents
Scaena prima 149 [2241–2370] 150
➤ Thumbnails
[1917 –1983] 149 [2371–2502] 151
Scoena Secunda 149 [2503–2579] 151
[1984–1990] 149
➤ help & tips
The Winters Tale. 152
➤ exit
Actus Primus 152 [755–818] 155
Scoena Prima 152 Scena Secunda 155
[1–47] 152 [819–878] 155
[48–100] 152 Scaena Tertia 156
[101–232] 153 [897 –1004] 156
[233–364] 153 [1005–1136] 156
[365–496] 154 [1137 –1143] 157
[497 –582] 154 Actus Tertius 157
Actus Secundus 154 Scena Prima 157
Scena Prima 154 [1144–1172] 157
[1256–1387] 157 [2147 –2278] 161
[1388–1435] 158 [2279–2410] 161 O
Scaena Tertia 158 [2411–2542] 162
➤ about this book
[1436–1513] 158 [2543–2674] 162
[1514–1577] 158 [2675–2723] 163
Actus Quartus 158 Actus Quintus 163 ➤ book contents
Scena Prima 158 Scena Prima 163 ➤ Detailed contents
[1578–1611] 158 [2724–2800] 163
➤ Thumbnails
Scena Secunda 158 [2801–2932] 163
[1612–1634] 158 [2933–3008] 164
[1635–1666] 159 Scoena Secunda 164
Scena Tertia 159 [3009–3058] 164
➤ help & tips
[1667 –1758] 159 [3059–3182] 164
[1759–1794] 159 Scaena Tertia 164 ➤ exit
Scena Quarta 159 [3183–3187] 164

[1795–1883] 159 [3188–3319] 165
[1884–2015] 160 [3320–3369] 165
[2016–2146] 160 The Names of the Actors 165
Histories
The life and death of King Iohn. 166
Actus Primus 166 Scaena Secunda 167
Scaena Prima 166 [291–351] 167
[1–96] 166 [352–480] 168
[97 –227] 167 [481–611] 168
[742–873] 169 [1995–2014] 174
[874–919] 170 [2015–2146] 174 O
Actus Secundus 170 [2147 –2164] 175
➤ about this book
[920–996] 170 Actus Quartus 175
Actus Tertius 170 Scaena prima 175
Scaena prima 170 [2165–2248] 175 ➤ book contents
[997 –1124] 170 Scoena Secunda 175 ➤ Detailed contents
[1125–1256] 171 [2249–2265] 175
➤ Thumbnails
[1257 –1281] 171 [2266–2397] 175
Scoena Secunda 171 [2398–2437] 176
[1282–1380] 171 Scaena Tertia 176
Scaena Tertia 172 [2438–2457] 176
➤ help & tips
[1381–1507] 172 Scena Quarta 176
[1508–1568] 172 [2458–2519] 176 ➤ exit
Actus Quartus 172 [2520–2522] 176

Scaena prima 172 Scena Quinta 176
[1569–1630] 172 [2523–2548] 176
[1631–1715] 173 Scena Sexta 176
Scena Secunda 173 [2549–2602] 176
[1716–1756] 173 Scena Septima 176
[1757 –1888] 173 [2603–2635] 176
[1889–1994] 174 [2636–2729] 177
Scoena Tertia 174
William Shakespeare
The life and death of King Richard the Second. 177
Actus Primus 177 [1244–1282] 182 O
Scaena Prima 177 Scoena Quarta 182 ➤ about this book
[1–93] 177 [1283–1308] 182
➤ book contents
Scaena Secunda 178 Scena Prima 182
[221–291] 178 Scena Secunda 183 ➤ Thumbnails
Scena Tertia 178 [1358–1481] 183
[292–346] 178 [1482–1580] 183
[347 –478] 179 Scaena Tertia 183 ➤ about this edition
[479–573] 179 [1581–1607] 183
➤ help & tips
Scoena Quarta 179 [1608–1739] 184
➤ exit
[574–605] 179 [1740–1805] 184
[606–639] 180 Scena Quarta 184
Actus Secundus 180 [1806–1864] 184
Scena Prima 180 [1865–1919] 185
[640–729] 180 Actus Quartus 185
[730–859] 180 Scoena Prima 185
[860–950] 181 [1920–1990] 185
Scena Secunda 181 [1991–2121] 185
[951–985] 181 [2122–2253] 186
[986–1102] 181 [2254–2258] 186
Scaena Tertia 181 Actus Quintus 186
[1103–1111] 181 Scena Prima 186
Scoena Secunda 186 [2634–2665] 188
[2365–2373] 186 Scaena Quarta 188 O
[2374–2494] 187 [2666–2760] 188
➤ about this book
Scoena Tertia 187 [2761–2790] 188
[2495–2501] 187 Scoena Quinta 188
[2502–2633] 187 [2791–2849] 188 ➤ book contents
The First Part of Henry the Fourth,
➤ Thumbnails
with the Life and Death of Henry Sirnamed Hot-spvrre. 189
Actus Primus 189 Scoena Tertia 192
[1–92] 189 [852–963] 192
➤ help & tips
[93–111] 189 Scena Quarta 192
➤ exit
Scaena Secunda 189 [964–979] 192
[112–218] 189 [980–1108] 193
[219–318] 190 [1109–1240] 193
Scoena Tertia 190 [1241–1370] 194
[319–344] 190 [1371–1497] 194
[345–476] 190 [1498–1518] 195
[477 –608] 191 Actus Tertius 195
[609–632] 191 Scena Prima 195
Actus Secundus 191 [1519–1622] 195
Scena Prima 191 [1623–1746] 195
[633–733] 191 [1747 –1813] 196
Scaena Secunda 192 Scaena Secunda 196
[1867 –1996] 196 [2586–2615] 199
[1997 –2001] 197 [2616–2630] 199 O
Scena Tertia 197 Actus Quintus 199
➤ about this book
[2002–2119] 197 Scena Prima 199
[2120–2217] 197 [2631–2739] 199
Actus Quartus 197 [2740–2779] 200 ➤ book contents
Scoena Prima 197 Scena Secunda 200 ➤ Detailed contents
[2218–2243] 197 [2780–2863] 200
➤ Thumbnails
[2244–2373] 198 [2864–2955] 200
Scaena Secunda 198 Scena Tertia 200
[2374–2456] 198 [2956–2988] 200
Scoena Tertia 198 [2989–3120] 201
➤ help & tips
[2457 –2492] 198 [3121–3131] 201
[2493–2585] 199 Scaena Quarta 201 ➤ exit
Scena Quarta 199 [3132–3180] 201
The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing his Death:

and the Coronation of King Henry the Fift. 202
Actus Primus 202 Scena Tertia 203
Scoena Prima 202 [275–347] 203
Indvction 202 [348–479] 203
[1–44] 202 [480–497] 204
[45–87] 202 [498–609] 204
[88–217] 202 [610–613] 204
[218–274] 203 Actus Secundus 204 William Shakespeare
Scoena Prima 204 [2127 –2258] 210
[614–738] 204 [2259–2368] 211 O
[739–788] 205 Scena Secunda 211
➤ about this book
Scena Secunda 205 [2369–2382] 211
[789–863] 205 [2383–2514] 211
[864–955] 205 [2515–2642] 212 ➤ book contents
Scena Tertia 205 [2643–2772] 212 ➤ Detailed contents
[956–988] 205 [2773–2784] 213
➤ Thumbnails
[989–1028] 206 Actus Quintus 213
Scaena Quarta 206 Scoena Prima 213
[1029–1109] 206 [2785–2877] 213
[1110–1239] 206 Scena Secunda 213
➤ help & tips
[1240–1367] 207 [2878–2891] 213
[1368–1419] 207 [2892–3020] 213 ➤ exit
Actus Tertius 207 [3021–3030] 214

Scena Prima 207 Scena Tertia 214
[1420–1488] 207 [3031–3144] 214
[1489–1530] 208 [3145–3167] 214
[1531–1612] 208 [3168–3204] 214
[1613–1742] 208 Scena Quinta 214
[1743–1859] 209 [3205–3260] 214
Actus Quartus 209 [3261–3323] 215
Scena Prima 209 Epilogve 215
[1860–1867] 209 [3324–3350] 215
[1868–1995] 209 The Actors Names 216
William Shakespeare
[1996–2126] 210 Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies
The Life of Henry the Fift. 216
Enter Prologue 216 [1781–1787] 223 O
[1–35] 216 Actus Tertius 223 ➤ about this book
Actus Primus 216 [1788–1904] 223
Scoena Prima 216 [1905–2033] 224
➤ book contents
[36–85] 216 [2034–2164] 224
[217 –348] 217 [2296–2425] 225 ➤ Thumbnails
[349–479] 218 [2426–2523] 226
[480–610] 218 Actus Quartus 226
[743–874] 219 [2548–2677] 226
➤ help & tips
[875–1006] 220 [2678–2808] 227
➤ exit
[1007 –1042] 220 [2809–2848] 227
Actus Secundus 220 Actus Quintus 227
[1043–1130] 220 [2849–2933] 227
[1131–1261] 221 [2934–3064] 228
[1262–1391] 221 [3065–3195] 228
[1392–1522] 222 [3196–3325] 229
[1523–1650] 222 [3326–3381] 229
[1651–1780] 223
The first Part of Henry the Sixt. 230

Actus Primus 230 [99–225] 230
Scoena Prima 230 [226–354] 231
[480–609] 232 Scoena Quarta 236
[610–673] 232 [1689–1742] 236 O
Actus Secundus 232 Actus Quartus 237
➤ about this book
Scena Prima 232 Scena Prima 237
[674–728] 232 [1743–1871] 237
[729–854] 233 [1872–2001] 237 ➤ book contents
[985–1113] 234 [2126–2253] 238
➤ Thumbnails
[1114–1200] 234 [2254–2331] 239
Actus Tertius 234 Scena secunda 239
Scena Prima 234 [2332–2373] 239
[1201–1243] 234 [2374–2397] 239
➤ help & tips
[1244–1373] 235 Scoena Tertia 239
[1374–1420] 235 [2398–2493] 239 ➤ exit
Scoena Secunda 235 [2494–2623] 240

[1421–1496] 235 [2624–2754] 240
[1497 –1583] 236 [2755–2818] 241
Scaena Tertia 236 Actus Quintus 241
[1584–1619] 236 [2819–2879] 241
[1620–1688] 236 [2880–2931] 241
The second Part of Henry the Sixt,

with the death of the Good Duke Hvmfrey. 242
Actus Primus 242 [91–222] 242
Scoena Prima 242 [223–354] 243
[483–607] 244 [2021–2148] 250
[608–730] 244 [2149–2278] 250 O
[731–858] 245 [2279–2406] 251
➤ about this book
[859–984] 245 [2407 –2533] 251
[985–1114] 246 [2534–2656] 252
[1115–1240] 246 [2657 –2780] 252 ➤ book contents
[1372–1501] 247 [2905–3027] 253
➤ Thumbnails
[1502–1631] 248 [3028–3154] 254
[1632–1761] 248 [3155–3286] 254
[1762–1891] 249 [3287 –3355] 255
[1892–2020] 249
➤ help & tips
The third Part of Henry the Sixt, ➤ exit
with the death of the Duke of Yorke. 255

Actus Primus 255 [1118–1245] 260
Scoena Prima 255 [1246–1372] 260
[1–90] 255 [1373–1501] 261
[91–222] 256 [1502–1633] 261
[223–350] 256 [1634–1761] 262
[351–473] 257 [1762–1891] 262
[474–603] 257 [1892–2021] 263
[604–731] 258 [2022–2150] 263
[732–862] 258 [2151–2275] 264
[863–989] 259 [2276–2396] 264
[990–1117] 259 [2397 –2522] 265 William Shakespeare
[2523–2650] 265 [2897 –3021] 267
[2651–2770] 266 [3022–3151] 267 O
[2771–2896] 266 [3152–3217] 268
➤ about this book
The Tragedy of Richard the Third: with the Landing of Earle
Richmond, and the Battell at Bosworth Field. 268 ➤ book contents
Actus Primus 268 [1119–1233] 273 ➤ Detailed contents
Scoena Prima 268 [1234–1269] 273 ➤ Thumbnails
[92–171] 269 [1270–1356] 273
Scena Secunda 269 [1357 –1430] 274 ➤ about this edition
[172–212] 269 Scena Tertia 274
➤ help & tips
[213–344] 269 [1431–1479] 274
➤ exit
[345–460] 270 [1480–1484] 274
Scena Tertia 270 Scena Quarta 274
[461–469] 270 [1485–1567] 274
[470–595] 270 Actus Tertius 274
[596–727] 271 Scoena Prima 274
[728–834] 271 [1568–1595] 274
Scena Quarta 271 [1596–1723] 275
[835–850] 271 [1724–1792] 275
[851–978] 272 Scena Secunda 275
[979–1110] 272 [1793–1844] 275
[1111–1118] 273 [1845–1931] 276
Actus Secundus 273 Scena Tertia 276
Scoena Prima 273 [1932–1962] 276 William Shakespeare
Scaena Quarta 276 [2959–3090] 280
[1963–2081] 276 [3091–3222] 281 O
[2082–2209] 277 [3223–3340] 281
➤ about this book
[2210–2333] 277 [3341–3346] 282
[2334–2465] 278 Scena Quarta 282
[2466–2469] 278 [3347 –3369] 282 ➤ book contents
Actus Quartus 278 Actus Quintus 282 ➤ Detailed contents
➤ Thumbnails
[2470–2586] 278 [3370–3402] 282
Scena Secunda 279 Scena Secunda 282
[2587 –2706] 279 [3403–3450] 282
[2707 –2768] 279 [3451–3577] 282
➤ help & tips
Scena Tertia 279 [3578–3705] 283
[2769–2827] 279 [3706–3832] 283 ➤ exit
[2828–2958] 280 [3833–3887] 284
The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight. 284
The Prologue 284 [337 –467] 286
[1–33] 284 [468–568] 286
Actus Primus 284 Scaena Tertia 286
Scoena Prima 284 [569–593] 286
[34–79] 284 [594–659] 287
[80–209] 285 Scena Quarta 287
[210–315] 285 [660–718] 287
Scena Secunda 285 [719–818] 287
[316–336] 285 Actus Secundus 287 William Shakespeare
Scena Prima 287 Actus Quartus 293
[819–843] 287 Scena Prima 293 O
[844–973] 288 [2376–2381] 293
➤ about this book
[974–1025] 288 [2382–2511] 294
Scena Secunda 288 [2512–2546] 294
[1026–1098] 288 Scena Secunda 294 ➤ book contents
[1099–1199] 289 [2547 –2637] 294 ➤ Detailed contents
Scena Tertia 289 [2638–2767] 295
➤ Thumbnails
[1200–1224] 289 Actus Quintus 295
[1225–1330] 289 Scena Prima 295
Scena Quarta 289 [2768–2894] 295
[1331–1349] 289 [2895–2986] 296
➤ help & tips
[1350–1481] 290 Scena Secunda 296
[1482–1613] 290 [2987 –3017] 296 ➤ exit
Actus Tertius 291 [3018–3148] 296

Scena Prima 291 [3149–3255] 297
[1614–1739] 291 Scena Tertia 297
[1740–1822] 291 [3256–3274] 297
Scena Secunda 291 [3275–3352] 297
[1823–1864] 291 Scena Quarta 297
[1865–1994] 292 [3353–3398] 297
[1995–2124] 292 [3399–3448] 298
[2125–2256] 293 The Epilogve 298
[2257 –2375] 293 [3449–3463] 298
William Shakespeare
Tragedies
The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida. 298 O
The Prologue 298 [1568–1697] 305 ➤ about this book
[1–32] 298 [1698–1829] 305 ➤ bibliographical items
Actus Primus 299 [1830–1959] 306
➤ book contents
Scoena Prima 299 [1960–2091] 306
[33–126] 299 [2092–2221] 307
[127 –258] 299 [2222–2349] 307 ➤ Thumbnails
[259–390] 300 [2350–2478] 308 ➤ advanced features

[391–519] 300 [2479–2607] 308
[652–783] 301 [2740–2871] 309 ➤ help & tips
[784–915] 302 [2872–3003] 310
➤ exit
[916–1047] 302 [3004–3135] 310
[1048–1178] 303 [3136–3267] 311
[1179–1306] 303 [3268–3395] 311
[1307 –1438] 304 [3396–3524] 312
[1439–1567] 304 [3525–3592] 312
The Tragedy of Coriolanus. 313

Actus Primus 313 [360–486] 315
Scoena Prima 313 [487 –615] 315
[1–100] 313 [616–743] 316
[101–231] 314 [744–867] 316
[232–359] 314 [868–894] 317
William Shakespeare
Actus Secundus 317 [2426–2433] 323
[895–992] 317 Actus Quartus 323 O
[993–1121] 317 [2434–2552] 323
➤ about this book
[1122–1246] 318 [2553–2684] 323
[1247 –1376] 318 [2685–2816] 324
[1377 –1507] 319 [2817 –2948] 324 ➤ book contents
[1638–1670] 320 [3081–3148] 325
➤ Thumbnails
Actus Tertius 320 Actus Quintus 325
[1671–1767] 320 [3149–3207] 325
[1768–1899] 320 [3208–3339] 326
[1900–2031] 321 [3340–3471] 326
➤ help & tips
[2032–2163] 321 [3472–3603] 327
[2164–2293] 322 [3604–3732] 327 ➤ exit
[2294–2425] 322 [3733–3838] 328
The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. 328

Actus Primus 328 [603–730] 331
Scoena Prima 328 [731–860] 331
[1–91] 328 [861–991] 332
[92–217] 329 [992–1115] 332
[218–348] 329 [1116–1130] 333
[349–477] 330 Actus Tertius 333
[478–552] 330 [1131–1237] 333
Actus Secunda 330 [1238–1364] 333
[1491–1539] 334 Actus Quintus 336
Actus Quartus 334 [2108–2133] 336 O
[1540–1615] 334 [2134–2265] 337
➤ about this book
[1616–1746] 335 [2266–2395] 337
[1747 –1876] 335 [2396–2519] 338
[1877 –2007] 336 [2520–2650] 338 ➤ book contents
➤ Thumbnails
The Tragedie of Romeo and Ivliet. 339
Actus Primus 339 [1542–1673] 345
[1–96] 339 [1805–1936] 346
➤ help & tips
[97 –228] 340 [1937 –2064] 347
➤ exit
[229–360] 340 [2065–2194] 347
[361–492] 341 [2195–2324] 348
[493–624] 341 [2325–2454] 348
[625–756] 342 [2455–2583] 349
[757 –888] 342 [2584–2715] 349
[889–1016] 343 [2716–2847] 350
[1017 –1148] 343 [2848–2976] 350
[1149–1279] 344 [2977 –3107] 351
[1280–1410] 344 [3108–3185] 351
[1411–1541] 345
William Shakespeare
The Life of Tymon of Athens. 352
Actus Primus 352 [1252–1382] 357 O
Scoena Prima 352 [1383–1507] 357 ➤ about this book
[1–93] 352 [1508–1635] 358
[94–222] 352 [1636–1765] 358
➤ book contents
[223–351] 353 [1766–1897] 359
[478–607] 354 [2030–2157] 360 ➤ Thumbnails
[608–734] 354 [2158–2286] 360
[735–863] 355 [2287 –2414] 361
[993–1120] 356 [2541–2607] 362
➤ help & tips
[1121–1251] 356 The Actors Names 362
➤ exit
The Tragedie of Ivlivs Caesar. 363

Actus Primus 363 [1000–1130] 367
Scoena Prima 363 [1131–1198] 368
[96–225] 364 [1199–1256] 368
[226–354] 364 [1257 –1388] 368
[355–483] 365 [1389–1520] 369
[484–613] 365 [1521–1648] 369
Actus Secundus 366 [1649–1780] 370
[614–738] 366 [1781–1851] 370
[739–870] 366 Actus Quartus 370
[1905–2035] 371 [2327 –2421] 372
[2036–2164] 371 [2422–2546] 373 O
[2165–2296] 372 [2547 –2674] 373
➤ about this book
[2297 –2326] 372 [2675–2730] 374
Actus Quintus 372
➤ book contents
The Tragedie of Macbeth. 374 ➤ Detailed contents
Actus Primus 374 Actus Secundus 376 ➤ Thumbnails
Scoena Prima 374 Scena Prima 376
[1–13] 374 [568–578] 376
Scena Secunda 374 [579–645] 377 ➤ about this edition
➤ help & tips
[90–95] 375 [646–703] 377
➤ exit
Scena Tertia 375 [704–740] 377
[96–210] 375 Scena Tertia 377
[211–276] 375 [741–826] 377
Scena Quarta 375 [827 –922] 378
[277 –337] 375 Scena Quarta 378
[338–346] 376 [923–947] 378
Scena Quinta 376 [948–979] 378
[347 –429] 376 Actus Tertius 378
Scena Sexta 376 Scena Prima 378
[430–456] 376 [980–1070] 378
[457 –470] 376 [1071–1149] 379
Scena Septima 376 Scena Secunda 379
[1196–1215] 379 [1939–2070] 382
Scena Tertia 379 [2071–2091] 383 O
[1216–1252] 379 Actus Quintus 383
➤ about this book
Scaena Quarta 379 Scena Prima 383
[1253–1310] 379 [2092–2172] 383
[1311–1427] 380 Scena Secunda 383 ➤ book contents
Scena Quinta 380 [2173–2191] 383 ➤ Detailed contents
[1428–1435] 380 [2192–2212] 383
➤ Thumbnails
[1436–1469] 380 Scaena Tertia 383
Scaena Sexta 380 [2213–2286] 383
[1470–1525] 380 Scena Quarta 383
Actus Quartus 380 [2287 –2310] 383
➤ help & tips
Scena Prima 380 [2311–2317] 384
[1526–1555] 380 Scena Quinta 384 ➤ exit
[1556–1685] 381 [2318–2376] 384

[1686–1709] 381 Scena Sexta 384
Scena Secunda 381 [2377 –2393] 384
[1710–1811] 381 Scena Septima 384
Scaena Tertia 382 [2394–2423] 384
[1812–1938] 382 [2424–2529] 384
The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke. 385

Actus Primus 385 Scena Secunda 385
Scoena Prima 385 [175–222] 385
[1–96] 385 [223–352] 386
[97 –174] 385 [353–459] 386 William Shakespeare
Scena Tertia 386 [1910–2036] 392
[460–479] 386 [2037 –2168] 393 O
[480–610] 387 [2169–2298] 393
➤ about this book
[611–742] 387 [2299–2428] 394
[743–874] 388 [2429–2560] 394
[875–887] 388 [2561–2691] 395 ➤ book contents
[888–1000] 388 [2823–2953] 396
➤ Thumbnails
[1001–1017] 389 [2954–3081] 396
Scena Secunda 389 [3082–3211] 397
[1018–1127] 389 [3212–3342] 397
[1128–1257] 389 [3343–3473] 398
➤ help & tips
[1258–1388] 390 [3474–3604] 398
[1389–1520] 390 [3605–3734] 399 ➤ exit
[1521–1650] 391 [3735–3864] 399

[1651–1782] 391 [3865–3906] 400
[1783–1909] 392
The Tragedie of King Lear. 400

Actus Primus 400 [353–484] 402
Scoena Prima 400 [485–504] 402
[1–94] 400 Scena Tertia 402
[95–224] 401 [505–528] 402
[225–332] 401 Scena Quarta 402
Scena Secunda 401 [529–602] 402
[735–863] 403 Scena Quinta 408
[864–872] 404 [1969–1986] 408 O
Scena Quinta 404 [1987 –1995] 408
➤ about this book
[873–925] 404 Scena Sexta 408
Actus Secundus 404 [1996–2056] 408
Scena Prima 404 Scena Septima 408 ➤ book contents
[926–980] 404 [2057 –2106] 408 ➤ Detailed contents
[981–1073] 404 [2107 –2176] 409
➤ Thumbnails
Scena Secunda 404 Actus Quartus 409
[1074–1103] 404 Scena Prima 409
[1104–1233] 405 [2177 –2233] 409
[1234–1360] 405 [2234–2265] 409
➤ help & tips
[1361–1491] 406 Scena Secunda 409
[1492–1613] 406 [2266–2347] 409 ➤ exit
Actus Tertius 406 Scena Tertia 409

Scena Prima 406 [2348–2354] 409
[1614–1617] 406 [2355–2381] 410
[1618–1653] 407 Scena Quarta 410
Scena Secunda 407 [2382–2428] 410
[1654–1744] 407 Scena Quinta 410
[1745–1750] 407 [2429–2474] 410
Scaena Tertia 407 [2475–2606] 410
[1751–1775] 407 [2607 –2738] 411
Scena Quarta 407 [2739–2742] 411
[1776–1861] 407 Scaena Septima 411
[1862–1968] 408 [2743–2843] 411
William Shakespeare
Actus Quintus 411 Scena Tertia 412
Scena Prima 411 [2937 –2966] 412 O
[2844–2853] 411 [2967 –3092] 412
➤ about this book
[2854–2916] 412 [3093–3221] 413
Scena Secunda 412 [3222–3302] 413
[2917 –2936] 412 ➤ book contents
The Tragedie of Othello, the Moore of Venice. 414
➤ Thumbnails
Actus Primus 414 Scena Secunda 418
Scoena Prima 414 [1096–1106] 418
[1–94] 414 [1107 –1236] 418 ➤ about this edition
[95–201] 414 [1237 –1367] 419
➤ help & tips
Scena Secunda 414 [1368–1494] 419
➤ exit
[202–218] 414 [1495–1516] 420
[219–322] 415 Actus Tertius 420
Scaena Tertia 415 Scena Prima 420
[323–340] 415 [1517 –1578] 420
[470–599] 416 [1579–1587] 420
[600–731] 416 Scoena Tertia 420
[732–750] 417 [1588–1611] 420
Actus Secundus 417 [1612–1742] 420
Scena Prima 417 [1743–1874] 421
[751–854] 417 [1875–2003] 421
[855–982] 417 [2004–2135] 422
[983–1095] 418 Scaena Quarta 422 William Shakespeare
[2136–2262] 422 [2965–3026] 425
[2263–2368] 423 [3027 –3079] 426 O
Actus Quartus 423 Actus Quintus 426
➤ about this book
[2369–2387] 423 [3080–3153] 426
[2388–2516] 423 [3154–3237] 426 ➤ book contents
[2517 –2645] 424 Scoena Secunda 426 ➤ Detailed contents
[2646–2685] 424 [3238–3278] 426
➤ Thumbnails
Scena Secunda 424 [3279–3410] 427
[2686–2768] 424 [3411–3540] 427
[2769–2898] 425 [3541–3671] 428
[2899–2964] 425 [3672–3685] 428
➤ help & tips
Scena Tertia 425 The Names of the Actors 428
➤ exit
The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra. 429

Actus Primus 429 [1135–1266] 433
Scoena Prima 429 [1267 –1394] 434
[1–91] 429 [1395–1523] 434
[92–220] 429 [1524–1653] 435
[221–350] 430 [1654–1785] 435
[351–480] 430 [1786–1917] 436
[481–611] 431 [1918–2045] 436
[612–743] 431 [2046–2175] 437
[744–875] 432 [2176–2307] 437
[876–1005] 432 [2308–2435] 438
[2562–2688] 439 [3205–3336] 441
[2689–2814] 439 [3337 –3468] 442 O
[2815–2946] 440 [3469–3596] 442
➤ about this book
[2947 –3076] 440 [3597 –3636] 443
[3077 –3204] 441
➤ book contents
The Tragedie of Cymbeline. 443 ➤ Detailed contents
Actus Primus 443 [717 –837] 446 ➤ Thumbnails
Scoena Prima 443 Actus Secundus 446
[1–81] 443 Scena Prima 446
Scena Secunda 443 [838–842] 446 ➤ about this edition
[82–87] 443 [843–901] 447
➤ help & tips
➤ exit
[220–224] 444 [902–959] 447
[225–261] 444 [960–967] 447
Scena Quarta 444 [968–1096] 447
[262–312] 444 [1097 –1141] 448
Scena Quinta 444 Scena Quarta 448
[313–334] 444 [1142–1222] 448
[335–466] 445 [1223–1352] 448
[467 –487] 445 [1353–1372] 449
Scena Sexta 445 Actus Tertius 449
[488–590] 445 Scena Prima 449
Scena Septima 446 [1373–1466] 449
[591–716] 446 Scena Secunda 449 William Shakespeare
[1467 –1471] 449 [2480–2611] 453
[1472–1552] 449 [2612–2735] 454 O
➤ about this book
[1553–1595] 449 [2736–2739] 454
[1596–1668] 450 [2740–2789] 454
Scena Quarta 450 Scena Quarta 454 ➤ book contents
[1720–1851] 450 Actus Quintus 454
➤ Thumbnails
[1852–1887] 451 Scena Prima 454
Scena Quinta 451 [2856–2861] 454
[1888–1978] 451 [2862–2890] 455
[1979–2079] 451 Scena Secunda 455
➤ help & tips
Scena Sexta 451 [2891–2923] 455
[2080–2104] 451 Scena Tertia 455 ➤ exit
[2105–2108] 452 [2924–2979] 455

Scena Septima 452 [2980–3031] 455
[2109–2195] 452 Scena Quarta 455
Scena Octaua 452 [3032–3104] 455
[2196–2216] 452 [3105–3236] 456
Actus Quartus 452 [3237 –3246] 456
Scena Prima 452 Scena Quinta 456
[2217 –2221] 452 [3247 –3363] 456
[2222–2242] 452 [3364–3495] 457
Scena Secunda 452 [3496–3627] 457
[2243–2347] 452 [3628–3759] 458
[2348–2479] 453 [3760–3819] 458
William Shakespeare
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➤ help & tips
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➤ exit
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➤ book contents
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➤ help & tips
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➤ exit
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➤ help & tips
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➤ help & tips
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➤ help & tips
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Folger Shakespeare Library staff contributed enormous time and effort
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of this project. Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies
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Folger Shakespeare Library O
➤ about this book
The Folger Shakespeare Library is an independent research library. Opened
in 1932, the Folger was a gift to the American people from Henry Clay Folger
and his wife Emily Jordan Folger. A major center for scholarly research, the ➤ book contents
Folger houses the world’s largest collection of Shakespeare’s printed works, ➤ advanced features
in addition to a magnificent collection of other rare Renaissance books and
manuscripts on all disciplines—history and politics, theology and exploration, ➤ about this edition
law and the arts. The collection, astonishing in its range and variety, consists ➤ Folger Shakespeare Library
of over 300,000 books and manuscripts; 27,000 paintings, drawings, engrav-
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ings and prints; and musical instruments, costumes and films.
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The Reading Room is open to
scholars and Ph.D. students for study ➤ exit
and research. It is open to the public

during the Folger’s annual celebration
of Shakespeare’s birthday in April.
The Folger is also a museum
devoted to Shakespeare’s legacy, a
lively center for the literary and per-
forming arts, and a center for the
revitalization of humanities educa-
tion in our schools. Throughout the
year exhibitions of the Folger’s trea-
sures and special events draw visitors
into the Great Hall. Reading room, Folger Shakespeare Library.
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Printed Book Collections
The Folger Library contains about 256,000 volumes, including about O
116,000 rare books (pre-1800) and 140,000 modern (post-1800). The collec- ➤ about this book
tions focus on British and European literary, cultural, political, religious,
and social history from the fifteenth through the eighteenth centuries, with
➤ book contents
particular strength in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Early English Books The Folger Library has one of the largest collections
of STC (1475–1640) and Wing (1641–1700) books in the world, numbering ➤ about this edition
approximately 50,000 volumes, including broadsides. In addition, there are
➤ Folger Shakespeare Library
some 30,000 eighteenth-century English imprints.
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The Shakespeare Collection At the heart of the Library lies its very large
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Shakespeare Collection. One hundred eighty-six Quarto editions of the plays
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and poems are joined by 79 copies of the First Folio, 117 copies of the Second,
Third, and Fourth Folios, and about 7,000 other editions of Shakespeare’s
works, from Rowe (1709) to the latest Oxford and Cambridge editions. Hun-
dreds of foreign editions of the plays and poems translate Shakespeare into
over 40 languages. Complementing the book collection are 980 promptbooks
of Shakespeare’s plays, dating from the late seventeenth through the mid-
twentieth century, with strongest holdings in the nineteenth century.
Continental Books The collection of rare books printed on the Continent

is rich and varied, with over 35,000 volumes, including 450 incunabula.
More than 2,000 volumes compose the Reformation collection, comprising
extensive holdings in Luther and Calvin among others. Other strengths
of the Library include Italian drama, travel books, herbals, festival books,
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classical authors, history of science and technology, military history, and
French and Dutch historical and political pamphlets (1500–1700). O
Modern Books The large modern collection provides journals, reference ➤ about this book
works, and critical/historical literature that elucidate the rare book holdings. ➤ bibliographical items
Highlights include multinational critical works on Shakespeare and his
➤ book contents
contemporaries; English county histories; Calendars of English State Papers
domestic and foreign; the Patrologiae Latinae; the Corpus Christianorum,
series Latina; publications of the Catholic Record, Early English Text,
Hakluyt, and Harleian Societies, and of the Historical Manuscripts Com-
mission; and dictionaries, encyclopedias, peerages, and a large number of
facsimile editions of early books. ➤ About Octavo
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Special Collections
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The Library’s book collections are supplemented by art works, photographs,
maps, early music, playbills, theatrical programs and scrapbooks, prompt-
books, and film and videos. Thousands of art works on paper as well as
some 200 oil paintings comprise one of the largest collections of eighteenth-
and nineteenth-century illustrations to Shakespeare, as well as portraits of
actors and actresses from that period. In addition, there are engravings
from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, including a fine collection of
works by Wenceslaus Hollar.
About 250,000 playbills and hundreds of programs and scrapbooks
record performances, mainly on the British and American stage, from
the eighteenth through the early twentieth century. Besides 980 Shake-
spearean promptbooks, there are another 800 promptbooks recording non-
Shakespearean productions, as well as microfilms of the promptbooks at William Shakespeare
the Shakespeare Library, Birmingham, the Shakespeare Library, Stratford-
upon-Avon, and the Harvard Theatre Collection. In addition, the Folger O
has a substantial collection of Shakespeare productions on film and video,
➤ about this book
from the days of silent film to the recent BBC and popular movie versions.
Manuscripts ➤ book contents
The Folger Library houses some 55,000 manuscripts in addition to other ➤ advanced features
collections available on microfilm. Its holdings are rich in early corre-
spondence, commonplace and recipe books, as well as poetry and plays. ➤ about this edition
Special collections include the Losely papers of the More family (16th–17th ➤ Folger Shakespeare Library
centuries); papers of the Bacon-Townshend families (16th–17th centuries);
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the Cavendish-Talbot families (1548–1607); the Rich family (1485–1820); the
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Bagot family (1557 –1671); the Robert Bennett papers (17th century); papers
of the nineteenth-century theatrical manager Augustin Daly; eighteenth- ➤ exit
century records of Drury Lane and Covent Garden theatres; over 200
scrapbooks belonging to the nineteenth-century antiquary, James Orchard
Halliwell-Phillips; and 199 volumes from the Strozzi family compiled in the
seventeenth and eighteenth centuries but recording many earlier documents.
Microfilm collections include the Cecil papers from Hatfield House;
other Losely papers from the Guildford Muniment Room and Losely Park;
manuscripts from theTanner and Rawlinson collections at the Bodleian
Library, and from the Harleian and Lansdowne collections at the British
Library; the state papers domestic of Edward VI, Mary, Elizabeth I, James
I and Charles I; the unpublished state papers of the English Civil War and
Interregnum; and the papers of Sir Henry Irving and Ellen Terry from the
Shakespeare Centre Library, Stratford-upon-Avon.
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Digital Preservation and Publishing
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William Shakespeare | Comedies, Histories, O®

➤ about this edition

The First Folio of Shakespeare

but George Steevens, a dedicated bibliophile, found the escalated figures

to have bypassed this volume. Robert Burton, author of The Anatomy of

lithographic facsimile two years later. Others by J.O. Halliwell-Phillips

➤ about this edition

William Shakespeare of Stratford-upon-Avon, Gentleman

… trust them [actors] not: for there is an upstart crow, beauti-

➤ about this edition

➤ about this edition

➤ View, print, and search this booklet…

➤ Selection & Condition

➤ about this edition

Elizabethan jest-books, drolleries, garlands, and ballads. When the books

➤ Selection & Condition

Order. Component parts assembled in proper order. The binding and

From whence at first she wegih’d her Anchorage:

Capitalization and italicization (including punctuation) are mimicked.

[**ILLUSTRATION 2 (217, Col. 1, line 60)]

King. Where is my gracious Lord of Canterbury?

[**ILLUSTRATION 4 (20, Col. 1, line 27)]

Alo. Giue vs kind keepers, heavens: what were these?

[**ILLUSTRATION 5 (376, Col. 4, line 4)]

[**ILLUSTRATION 7 (314, Col. 1, line 22)] ➤ book contents

Spaces before punctuation marks are closed up.

[**ILLUSTRATION 9 (335, Col. 2, line 36)]

The fields are neere, and you are gallant Groomes:

A Midsommer Nights Dreame. 86

The Tragedie of Ivlivs Caesar. 363

Measvre, For Measure. 44

Scena Tertia 48 Scena Quinta 53

Much adoe about Nothing. 64

The Merchant of Venice. 95

Scena Prima 114 Scena Quarta 116

The Taming of the Shrew. 118

➤ about this edition

Scena Quarta 159 [3183–3187] 164

Actus Quartus 172 [2520–2522] 176

Scena Quarta 199 [3132–3180] 201

The Second Part of Henry the Fourth, Containing his Death:

Actus Tertius 207 [3021–3030] 214

The first Part of Henry the Sixt. 230

Scoena Secunda 235 [2494–2623] 240

The second Part of Henry the Sixt,

with the death of the Duke of Yorke. 255

[2828–2958] 280 [3833–3887] 284

Actus Tertius 291 [3018–3148] 296

[259–390] 300 [2350–2478] 308 ➤ advanced features

The Tragedy of Coriolanus. 313

[2294–2425] 322 [3733–3838] 328

The Lamentable Tragedy of Titus Andronicus. 328

The Tragedie of Ivlivs Caesar. 363

[1556–1685] 381 [2318–2376] 384

The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke. 385

[1521–1650] 391 [3735–3864] 399

The Tragedie of King Lear. 400

Actus Tertius 406 Scena Tertia 409

The Tragedie of Anthonie, and Cleopatra. 429

[2105–2108] 452 [2924–2979] 455

➤ about this edition

➤ about this edition