First Folio
William Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on the 23rd of April 1616. He was buried two days later in the chancel of the Church of the Holy Trinity. His colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell decided to compile his plays into a single volume about seven years after his death. They published this collection as Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies in 1623. This book is now commonly called the First Folio by modern scholars. It stands as one of the most influential books ever printed. The decision to create such a large book came from men who had worked closely with the playwright for decades. They wanted to preserve his work against the cheap quarto editions that were flooding the market. These earlier quartos were often maimed and deformed by frauds according to their preface. Heminges and Condell claimed they offered Shakespeare's true words cured and perfect of their limbs. They dedicated the book to William Herbert, the 3rd Earl of Pembroke, and his brother Philip Herbert, the Earl of Montgomery. This dedication honored them as the incomparable pair of brethren.
The printing syndicate included Edward Blount and the father-son team of William Jaggard and Isaac Jaggard. William Jaggard was old, infirm, and blind by 1623 when the project began. He died just one month before the book went on sale. Most of the actual typesetting work must have been done by his son Isaac. The paper industry in England was then in its infancy. High-quality rag paper for the book was imported from France. The typesetting process involved five compositors labeled A through E. Compositor A was the most accurate while Compositor E was an apprentice with significant difficulties. Compositor E was likely John Leason whose apprenticeship contract dated only from the 4th of November 1622. Another compositor might have been a John Shakespeare who apprenticed with Jaggard between 1610 and 1617. This John Shakespeare had no known relation to the playwright. The Folio was printed in sixes where three sheets were folded into a booklet-like quire. Pages 1 and 12 were printed simultaneously on one side of a sheet. Then pages 2 and 11 were printed on the other side of that same sheet. This method required compositors to plan how much text would fit onto each page beforehand.
Thirty-six plays appear in the First Folio in a specific order determined by the editors. Plays marked with an asterisk had never been published before 1623. The Tempest was set into type from a manuscript prepared by Ralph Crane. Crane was a professional scrivener employed by the King's Men. He produced a high-quality result with formal act and scene divisions. The Two Gentlemen of Verona also came from another transcript by Ralph Crane. Measure for Measure probably used another Ralph Crane transcript as well. The Comedy of Errors appears to be typeset from Shakespeare's foul papers lightly annotated. A Midsummer Night's Dream was typeset from a copy of Q2 which was well-annotated. It may have been used as a prompt-book during performance. Troilus and Cressida was originally intended to follow Romeo and Juliet but rights conflicts stopped the process. It was later inserted as the first tragedy when the legal issues resolved itself. Hamlet presents one of the most difficult problems in the entire collection. Scholars believe it was typeset from some combination of Q2 and manuscript sources. King Lear is another difficult problem likely set mainly from Q1 but corrected against a prompt-book. Othello seems to be typeset from Q1 corrected with a quality manuscript.
About 750 copies were printed of the First Folio initially. Only 235 are known to remain today. More than one third of these surviving copies sit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C. That library holds a total of 82 First Folios. Meisei University in Tokyo owns 12 copies while New York Public Library has six. The British Library in London possesses five copies. Thirty-one American colleges and universities own a total of 38 copies together. Seven British universities hold 14 copies between them. The University of Cambridge has four copies and the University of Oxford also has four. Princeton University owns three copies while Brown University holds two. Harvard University keeps two copies and Yale University has one copy. Three copies exist within the University of California system. UC Berkeley holds one copy and UCLA holds another. UC Irvine possesses the third copy. In Canada the University of Toronto's Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library owns a single copy. The University of British Columbia holds another copy there as well. Ireland's only copy resides in the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin. The Boston Public Library contains a copy previously owned by John Milton. That specific copy features notes written in his handwriting.
A copy sold at Christie's in New York during October 2001 made $6.16 million hammer price. Another copy sold by Mills College at Christie's fetched $10 million in October 2020. This second sale made it the most expensive work of literature ever auctioned. Oriel College, Oxford raised £3.5 million from selling its First Folio to Sir Paul Getty in 2003. A complete copy owned by Dr Williams's Library was auctioned at Sotheby's on the 13th of July 2006. It sold for £2,808,000 which was less than the top estimate of £3.5 million. Only about 40 remaining copies are complete while most existing copies are incomplete. One other copy remains in private ownership. A copy stolen from Durham University in 1998 was recovered after being submitted for valuation at the Folger Shakespeare Library. News reports estimated the folio's value anywhere from £250,000 up to $30 million. The book had been mutilated and missing its cover and title page when found. It returned to public display on the 19th of June 2010 after a twelve-year absence. Fifty-three-year-old Raymond Scott received an eight-year prison sentence for handling stolen goods. He killed himself in his prison cell in 2012.
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Common questions
When did William Shakespeare die and who compiled his plays into the First Folio?
William Shakespeare died in Stratford-upon-Avon on the 23rd of April 1616. His colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell decided to compile his plays into a single volume about seven years after his death.
Who were the printers involved in creating the First Folio and what was their condition during production?
The printing syndicate included Edward Blount and the father-son team of William Jaggard and Isaac Jaggard. William Jaggard was old, infirm, and blind by 1623 when the project began and he died just one month before the book went on sale.
Which plays in the First Folio were typeset from manuscripts prepared by Ralph Crane?
The Tempest was set into type from a manuscript prepared by Ralph Crane. The Two Gentlemen of Verona also came from another transcript by Ralph Crane and Measure for Measure probably used another Ralph Crane transcript as well.
How many copies of the First Folio survive today and which institution holds the most?
Only 235 copies are known to remain today out of an initial print run of about 750. More than one third of these surviving copies sit at the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington, D.C., which holds a total of 82 First Folios.
What is the highest auction price recorded for a copy of the First Folio and when did it occur?
A copy sold by Mills College at Christie's fetched $10 million in October 2020. This second sale made it the most expensive work of literature ever auctioned.