THE FIRST FOLIO - the first collection of Shakespeare's plays was first published in November 1623, seven years after his death. It was a large book, made up of folded folios of paper and was compiled by two of WS's fellow actors, John Hemminges and Henry Condell. In the preface they wrote that they were publishing this book 'without ambition either of self-profit or fame, only to keep the memory of so worthy a friend and fellow alive as was our Shakespeare.'
It is thought that about one thousand copies were printed, of which 230-240 copies survive until today. The First Folio originally cost one pound sterling, about $50 in today's money. In 2001, a copy sold for 4.3 million pounds! It was printed and published by William and Isaac Jaggard, with Edward Blount as an additional publisher. It included thirty-six plays, of which eighteen (some say fourteen), had already been published as Quartos. This meant that Hemminges and Condell succeeded in rescuing eighteen (or twenty-two) plays from being lost forever.
The Folio divided up the plays into Comedies, Histories and Tragedies but it didn't include all of WS's plays. Those that didn't appear include Pericles and The Two Noble Kinsmen (partly written by WS) and possibly Sir Thomas More and Love's Labours Won and Cardenio (probably written by WS and John Fletcher. Another play, Edward III, has been credited to WS, but that was only in 1656 and today is not accepted as a genuine WS play by certain academics.
Incidentally, the printer miscalculated the space he needed for Timon of Athens in the First Folio. As a result, many of the play's lines were cut in half and rewritten as verse so that they could easily be fitted in the available space.
Today, of the 232 known copies of the Folio known to be in existence, 82 of them are in the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC.**
One of the most well-known features of the Folio include the poetic dedication written by WS's fellow-playwright, Ben Jonson, which includes the following lines:
[Shakespeare was] not of an age, but for all time.
and
Soul of the Age! The applause, delight, the wonder of our stage!
and
How far thou didst our Lyly outshine,
Or sporting Kyd, or Marlowe's mighty line.
Another well-known feature in the First Folio is the iconic engraving by Martin Droeshout. Since this engraver was only 15 years old when WS died in 1616, he must have based it on an unknown contemporary drawing. However, I will deal with this in more detail in my next blog.
Ben Jonson and his poetic preface
**Personal comment: I think it is a shame that the Library has aimed to collect as many copies of the Folio as it can. I believe that copies of this historic book should be distributed throughout the world as much as possible so that more people can enjoy experiencing it and not just the Folger Library and private collectors. In other words, why can't the Folger Library 'lend out' copies of the Folio to other libraries and institutions around the world?
Next blog: More about the Folio.
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David, I like your blog. I agree with your point about the Folger library holding so many copies of the FF. I read a good book recently called The Millionaire And The Bard about how this came to be. You might want to check it out.
ReplyDeleteAlso, considering your interest in Will, you might want to check out my blog as well. It's a different way than yours of going about discussing Will and his works. Maybe you'll find it interesting. Maybe not. who knows.
Pete