The Shakespeare First Folio, 1623
400 Years and Counting

In this class there will be consideration of how the first full collection of the plays of Shakespeare came about, and appeared in Jacobean bookstalls in November 1623.

This book, in fact, doubled the number of Shakespeare’s playscripts in print and available to the public. Were it not for its publication. works such as Julius Caesar and Macbeth – and many more – would have disappeared after their last performance on stage by the King’s Men acting company. Thus it was this Folio publication that preserved and brought to us works of inestimable literary and theatrical value.

The class will examine how the Folio project began and how the book was printed and distributed, as well as the fortunes of the copy acquired and lost by Oxford University.

On exhibit:
    Facsimile of Ben Jonson Folio and
    400th Anniversary facsimile of First Folio.

What's In It for You?
The Values and Valuation of the
Shakespeare First Folio

In this class one will consider the organization, accuracy, and significance of the First Folio’s contents.

Beyond reference to the famous engraving of Shakespeare’s portrait and the introductory comments and poems, the class will comment on features of the text, the later folios, the development of edited publications, a modern inventory of surviving copies, the rise in monetary value, facsimiles, a 21st-century discovery, a recent book sale, and contemporary access to the First Folio.

On exhibit:
    Facsimiles of the First Folio from the
    19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.