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Shakespeare's First Folio

Book
1623 (published)
Artist/Maker
Shakespeare, William (author)
Jaggard, Isaac (printer)
Blount, Edward (printer)
Place of origin
London (published)

The first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, this book was published seven years after his death. Without this precious edition, 18 of his plays would be entirely unknown.

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Object details

Categories
National Art Library
Books
Theatre
Object type
Book
TitleShakespeare's First Folio (generic title)
Materials and techniques
Leather
Paper
Ink
Printing
Engraving
Brief description
Book, Mr. William Shakespeares comedies, histories & tragedies : published according to the true originall copies / [edited by I. Heminge and H. Condell]. Publisher: London : Printed by Isaac Iaggard and Ed. Blount, 1623.
Physical description
Book, Shakespeare's first folio, letterpress, ink on paper, printed by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, London, 1623

First folio ed.; first issue. Includes portrait of William Shakespeare.
The title page and lines "To the reader," remounted ; the vol. cut down and mended in several places.
Portrait by Droeshout on title and verses "To the reader" signed B.I. [Ben Jonson] facing title.
Colophon: Printed at the Charges of W. Jaggard, Ed. Blount, I. Smithweeke, and W. Aspley, 1623.
Dimensions
  • Head to tail of closed book length: 334mm (closed) (Note: Closed)
  • Width: 225mm (closed) (Note: Closed)
  • Width of spine area depth: 55mm (closed book) (Note: Closed)
Gallery label
Mr William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies (First Folio)
1623
Without the First Folio we would lack nearly half Shakespeare's plays. Edited seven years after his death by John Heminges and Henry Condell, members of his company, it represents a rare honour as few contemporary dramatists had their collected works published. The book contains 36 plays (omitting Pericles), 18 of them previously unprinted.
Engraving and letterpress
Printed by Isaac Jaggard and Edward Blount, London
Credit line
Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce.
Object history
Donated by Rev. Alexander Dyce, in 1869.
Summary
The first collected edition of Shakespeare's plays, this book was published seven years after his death. Without this precious edition, 18 of his plays would be entirely unknown.
Bibliographic reference
Rasmussen, E., West, J. and Bailey, D.L, The Shakespeare first folios: a descriptive catalogue, Basingstoke, Hampshire [England] ; New York : Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. no. 24.
Other numbers
  • Dyce 25.F.63 - NAL Pressmark
  • 38041800157489 - NAL barcode
Collection
National Art Library
Library number
Dyce 8936

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Record createdJune 16, 2017
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1397689/shakespeares-first-folio-book-shakespeare-william/
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