Shakespeare’s First Folio: 400th Anniversary Facsimile Edition

Shakespeare’s First Folio- 400th Anniversary Facsimile Edition

Introduction by Tanya Kirk & Adrian S. Edwards

Published to mark the 400th anniversary of the First Folio’s original publication, this facsimile edition faithfully reproduces one of the finest copies held in the British Library collections.

The significance of the First Folio cannot be underestimated. It is the only contemporary source of eighteen of Shakespeare's plays and without it, performances of such popular plays as The Tempest, Twelfth Night and Macbeth would not be possible. Changes and corrections were made during the long printing process, and small alterations were also made to the (now iconic) portrait of Shakespeare created by Martin Droeshout for the title page. As a result, no two surviving copies of the First Folio are identical and few are complete. Of the 750 copies that were originally published, some 200 exist today. The British Library has five copies, one of which is complete, and it is this copy that is presented with an introductory booklet by curators Adrian S Edwards and Tanya Kirk.

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Published by British Library Publishing

Hardback, slipcased

ISBN 9780712354295