Shakespeare's First Folio: Four Centuries of an Iconic Book

Smith (English, Hertford Coll., Oxford Univ.; coauthor, 30 Great Myths About Shakespeare) examines the reception of the first collected edition of William Shakespeare's plays (36 in total) as physical object as well as literary text. The first chapter discusses collectors of this work, including Henry Clay Folger (who bought 79 first folios) and Sir George Grey, who gave copies to Cape Colony and Auckland public libraries. Next, the author looks at how early readers annotated their editions, often using the plays as sources for commonplace books and acting as editors to correct real and perceived errors. Further chapters consider the (surprisingly lesser) role of the First Folio in post-1623 editions of Shakespeare and its eccentric use in the theater. The final section explains how most Folios have been "perfected," since many of the some 250 surviving copies have lost pages over the centuries.