On November 8, 1623, the First Folio was entered into The Stationer’s Register-which recorded publishing rights-and went on sale. Roughly 750 copies of the First Folio were printed-and 235 have survived to this day. Shakespeare wasn’t the first playwright to receive the special treatment of a folio edition, though: Ben Jonson published a folio of his own plays in 1616. Plays were typically printed individually in cheaper quarto editions, a small booklet made up of sheets that had been folded twice to yield eight pages. Folios were expensive due to their large size and high quality bindings, so typically, only important texts-usually of a historical, royal, or religious nature-were published in this format. Chris J Ratcliffe/GettyImagesĪ folio was a type of book made by folding paper only once, creating four pages per sheet. Folio describes the book’s physical format. The tome was largely financed by bookseller Edward Blount and it was printed by Isaac Jaggard, who managed the print shop owned by his father, William). They created the book by referring to Shakespeare’s drafts, individually printed editions of his plays, and prompt books (the script of a play along with staging details, such as blocking and sound cues). Two of Shakespeare’s friends, John Heminge and Henry Condell-who were also actors in the King’s Men, the playing company for which the Bard wrote-put together the First Folio as a tribute to their departed friend. Shakespeare had no involvement in the printing of the First Folio because he had died seven years prior, in 1616. Here are 11 facts about the Bard’s momentous First Folio. The impact of the 1623 book is still felt across the arts and the English language to this day: There are over 1000 adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays-making him the most filmed author in history-and his works contain the first recorded usage of many words. William Shakespeare’s Comedies, Histories, and Tragedies, the more than 900-page tome collected together 36 of the Renaissance writer’s plays for the first time. This year marks the 400th anniversary of the printing of William Shakespeare’s First Folio, a key moment in literary history.
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