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First Folio
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Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, &
Tragedies
Title page of the first impression (1623).
Author William Shakespeare
Cover artist Martin Droeshout
Country England
Language Early Modern English
Genre English Renaissance theatre

Publisher Edward Blount and William and Isaac Jaggard
Publication date
1623
Pages c. 900
Mr. William Shakespeare's Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies is a collection of plays
by William Shakespeare , commonly referred to by modern scholars as the First Folio ,
[a]
published in 1623, about seven years after Shakespeare's death. It is considered one
of the most influential books ever published.
[1]
Printed in folio format and containing 36 plays (see list of Shakespeare's plays ), it was
prepared by Shakespeare's colleagues John Heminges and Henry Condell . It
was dedicated to the "incomparable pair of brethren" William Herbert, 3rd Earl of
Pembroke and his brother Philip Herbert , Earl of Montgomery (later 4th Earl of
Pembroke).
Although 19 of Shakespeare's plays had been published in quarto before 1623, the First
Folio is arguably the only reliable text for about 20 of the plays, and a valuable source
text for many of those previously published. Eighteen of the plays in the First Folio,
including The Tempest , Twelfth Night , and Measure for Measure among others, are not
known to have been previously printed.
[2]
The Folio includes all of the plays generally
accepted to be Shakespeare's, with the exception of Pericles, Prince of Tyre , The Two
Noble Kinsmen , Edward III , and the two lost plays , Cardenio and Love's Labour's Won .
Out of perhaps 750 copies printed, 235 are known to remain, most of which are kept in
either public archives or private collections.
Contents
 1 Background
 2 Printing
 3 Contents
 4 Introductory poem
 5 Compositors
 6 The First Folio and variants
 7 Holdings, sales and valuations
o 7.1 Holdings
o 7.2 Sales and valuations
o 7.3 Discoveries of previously unknown Folios
 8 See also
 9 Notes
 10 References
 11 Bibliography
 12 Further reading
 13 External links

o 13.1 General resources
o 13.2 Digital facsimiles
Background
[ edit ]
Memorial to William Shakespeare in the Poets' Corner , Westminster Abbey
Further information: Shakespeare's life , funerary monument , reputation , and plays in quarto
After a long career as an actor, dramatist, and sharer in the Lord Chamberlain's
Men (later the King's Men ) from c. 1585–90
[b]
until c. 1610–13, William Shakespeare died
in Stratford-upon-Avon , on 23 April 1616,
[c]
and was buried in the chancel of the Church
of the Holy Trinity two days later.
Shakespeare's works—both poetic and dramatic—had a rich history in print before the
publication of the First Folio: from the first publications of Venus and Adonis (1593)
and The Rape of Lucrece (1594), 78 individual printed editions of his works are
known. c. 30% (23) of these editions are his poetry, and the remaining c. 70% (55) his
plays. Counting by number of editions published before 1623, the best-selling works
were Venus and Adonis (12 editions), The Rape of Lucrece (6 editions), and Henry IV,